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THE  SITTING-ROOM  AT  LEIPSIC. 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS 

v 

gWrouut  of  (gxpcrim-cntat 
Jrom  jfrfontifir  Statist 

OF 


JOHANN  CARL  FRIEDRICH  ZOLLNER, 

Professor  of  Physical  Astronomy  at  the  University  of  Leipsic 
Member  of  the  Royal  Saxon  Society  of  Sciences;  Foreign 
Member  of  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society  of  London;  of 
the  Imperial  Academy  of  Natural  Philosophers  at 
Moscow;  Honorary  Member  of  the  Physical  Associa¬ 
tion  AT  FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN;  OF  THE  “  SCIENTIFIC 
Society  of  Psychological  Studies,”  at  Paris; 

AND  OF  THE  “  BRITISH  NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION 

of  Spiritualists,”  at  London. 


SEuanslateti  from  tije  (German,  toft!)  a  preface  anti  SlpjicutJiccs,  bg 

CHARLES  CARLETON  MASSEY, 

OF  LINCOLN’S  INN,  LONDON,  ENGLAND,  BAllRISTER-AT-LAW. 


SECOND  EDITION. 


BOSTON: 

COLBY  &  RTCTL  PUBLISHERS, 

No.  !)  Montgomery  Place. 


i  J  J*  * 

Z«?T 

c.  X 


CONTENTS. 


l-AGE, 

Translator’s  Preface, . 0 

Author’s  Dedication  to  Mr.  William  Crookes,  F.R.S.,  27 


CHAPTER  I. 

Gauss’ and  Kant’s  Theory  of  space. — -The  Practical  Appli¬ 
cation  of  the  Theory  in  Experiments  with  Henry  Slade. 

—  True  Knots  produced  upon  a  Cord  with  its  ends  in 
view  aud  sealed  together, . 31 


CHAPTER  II. 

Magnetic  Experiments. — Physical  Phenomena. — Slate-Writ¬ 
ing  under  Test  Conditions, . 4G 


CHAPTER  III. 

Permanent  Impressions  obtained  of  Hands  and  Feet. —  Pro¬ 
posed  Chemical  Experiment. — Slade’s  Abnormal  Vision. 

—  Impressions  in  a  Closed  Space. —  Enclosed  Space  of 
Three  Dimensions  open  to  Four-Dimensional  Beings,  C3 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Conditions  of  Investigation. —  Unscientific  Men  of  Science. 

—  Slade’s  Answer  to  Professor  Barrett,  ...  72 


(3) 


4 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Production  of  Knots  in  an  Endless  String. — Further  Experi¬ 
ments. —  Materialisation  of  Hands. — Disappearance  and 
Reappearance  of  Solid  Objects. —  A  Table  Vanishes,  and 
afterwards  Descends  from  the  Ceiliug  in  Full  Light,  . 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Theoretical  Considerations.  —  Projected  Experiments  for 
Proof  of  the  Fourth  Dimension. —  The  Unexpected  in 
Nature  and  Life. — Schopenhauer’s  “Transcendent  Fate,” 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Various  Instances  of  the  so-called  Passage  of  Matter  through 
Matter, . 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Phenomena  suitable  for  Scientific  Research. —  Their 
Reproduction  at  Different  Times  and  Places. — Dr. 
Friese’s  and  Professor  Wagner’s  Experiments  in  Confir¬ 
mation  of  the  Author’s, . 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Theoretical;  “The  Fourth  Dimension.”  —  Professor  Hare’s 
Experiments.— Further  Experiments  of  the  Author  with 
Slade. —  Coins  Transferred  from  Closed  and  Fastened 
Boxes. —  Clairvoyance, . 


CHAPTER  X. 

An  Experiment  for  skeptics. —  A  Wager.  —  Slade’s  Scruples. 
—  A  Rebuke  by  the  Spirits. —  An  Unexpected  Result.— 
Captious  Objections, . 


CONTKNTS. 


5 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Writing  through  a  Table. —  A  test  in  Slate- Writing  conclu¬ 
sively  Disproving  Slade's  Agency,  ....  1G5 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A  “  Fault”  in  the  Cable. —  A  Jet  of  Water. —  Smoke. — “  Eire 
Everywhere.”— Abnormal  Shadows.— Explanation  upon 
the  Hypothesis  of  the  Fourth  Dimension.— A  Seance  in 
Dim  Light.—  Movement  of  Objects. — A  Luminous  Body,  1 7G 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Phenomena  Described  by  Others, . 18G 


APPENDICES. 

Appendix  A. —  The  Value  of  Testimony  in  Matters  Extraor¬ 
dinary,  . 197 

Appendix  15. —  Evidence  of  Samuel  Bellachini,  Court  Con¬ 
jurer  at  Berlin, . 213 

Appendix  C. —  Admissions  by  John  Nevil  Maskclync  and 

other  Professional  Conjurers, . 215 

Appendix  D. — Plate  X, . 218 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  7- 


FRONTisriEcn. — The  room  at  Leipsic  in  which  most  of  the 
Experiments  were  conducted. 

Plate  I. —  Experiment  with  an  Endless  String,  .  .  40 

“  II. —  Leather  Bands  Interlinked  and  Knotted  under 

Professor  Zollner’s  Hands,  ....  87 

“  III. —  Experiment  with  an  Endless  Bladder-Band  and 

Wooden  Rings,  .  .  .  .  .  .  103 

“  IV. —  Result  of  the  Experiment,  ....  105 

“  V. —  Ditto,  on  an  Enlarged  Scale,  ....  107 

“  VI. —  Experiment  with  Coins  in  a  Secured  Box,  142,  143 

“  VII. —  The  Representation  of  Conditions  under  which 

Slate-Writing  was  obtained,  ....  1G7 

“VIII. —  Slate-Writing  Extraordinary,  .  .  .  171,  173 

“  IX. —  Slate-Writing  in  five  Different  Languages,  194,195 

“  X. —  Details  of  the  Experiment  with  an  Endless  Band 

and  Wooden  Rings, . 218 


(7) 


TRANSLATOR’S  PREFACE. 


“  These  things,  O  Asclepius,  will  appear  to  be  true  if  thon  understandeth  them, 
but  if  thou  understandeth  them  not,  incredible.  For  to  understand  is  to 
believe,  but  not  to  believe  is  not  to  understand.” —  The  Divine  Pimander. 


“  Transcendental  Physics  ”  is  the  title  of  the  third  volume 
of  Professor  Zollner’s  Scientific  Treatises.  Some  of  the  parts  com¬ 
prised  in  the  following  translation  belong  to  the  earlier  volumes, 
where  the  facts  recorded  are  introduced  in  connection  with  the 
author’s  physical  speculations.  It  is  with  some  concern  that  the 
translator  has  been  compelled  to  forego  a  full  presentation  of  the 
latter ;  but  it  is  hoped  that  enough  is  given  to  show  their  bearing 
upon  facts,  the  public  recognition  of  which  is  the  principal  object 
in  view.  With  such  assistance  as  is  afforded  by  the  author’s  occa¬ 
sional  explanations,'  the  English  reader  must  be  left  to  grapple,  as 
best  he  can,  with  the  unfamiliar  conception  of  the  fourth  dimension 
of  space.  Professor  Zollner  traces  this  hypothesis  historically  in 
the  writings  of  some  of  the  most  eminent  philosophers  and  mathe¬ 
maticians  ;  but  it  was  not  possible  to  disengage  this  account  from 
other  metaphysical  and  scientific  disquisitions,  or  from  controversial 
topics,  in  which  it  is  involved.  A  very  general  abstract  is  given 
in  the  first  chapter,  which  is  a  reprint,  by  permission  of  Mr. 

(9) 


10 


TRANSLATOR S  PREFACE. 


Crookes,  F.R.S.,  of  an  article  published  in  the  Quarterly  Journal 
of  Science,  of  April,  1878,  on  the  appearance  of  the  first  volume 
of  the  author’s  treatises. 

The  writer  ventures  to  hope  that  this  English  version  of  facts  so 
well-attested  may  be  read  by  those  to  whom  the  intellectual  worth 
and  achievements  of  the  principal  witnesses  arc  already  known. 
Rut  for  tho  information  of  the  general  public,  the  following  par¬ 
ticulars  concerning  them  are  here  given. 

Professor  Zollncr,  the  author  and  chief  deponent,  in  whose 
house  many  of  the  facts  he  records  occurred,  was  born  in  1834, 
and  is  thus  in  tho  mature  vigor  of  his  intellectual  life.  He  is 
Professor  of  Physics  and  Astronomy  in  the  University  of  Leipsic, 
and  has  taken  place  in  the  front  ranks  of  the  scientific  men  of 
Europe.  lie  has  published  many  works,  among  which  are 
Sketches  of  a  Universal  Photometry  of  the  Starry  Heavens,  Physi¬ 
cal  Nature  of  the  Heavenly  Bodies,  The  Nature  of  Comets,  and 
these  treatises. 

William  Edward  Weber,  bom  in  1804,  is  a  Professor  of  Phys¬ 
ics,  and  known  as  the  founder,  in  common  with  his  brother,  of  the 
doctriuc  of  the  Vibration  of  Forces.  He  has  published  an  exhaust¬ 
ive  work  on  Electro- Dynamic  Measurement  (4  vols.,  184G-1S54). 
No  scientific  reputation  stands  higher  in  Germany  than  that  of 
Weber. 

Professor  Scheibncr,  of  Leipsic  University,  is  a  well-known  and 
highly-distinguished  mathematician. 

Gustave  Theodore  Fechner,  bom  1801,  is  eminent  as  a  natural 
philosopher,  and  is  likewise  Professor  of  Physics  at  Leipsic. 
Among  his  works  are  The  Soul  of  Plants,  The  Zendavesta,  The 
Things  of  the  Future,  Elements  of  Psycho-Physics,  The  Problem 
of  the  Soul,  and  About  the  Life  Hereafter. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  testimony  of  these  men,  publicly 
given  to  such  facts  as  those  described  in  the  following  pages,  has 
caused  much  excitement  and  controversy  in  Germany.  The  indis¬ 
position  to  see  in  the  alleged  phenomena  of  Spiritualism,  as  regards 
their  reality  and  independence  of  known  causes,  a  simple  question 


translator's  preface. 


11 


of  evidence  has  been  everywhere  apparent.  Nevertheless,  it  is 
just  from  tills  point  of  view  that  the  public  must,  by  degrees,  be 
brought  to  regard  the  subject.  The  irrelevance  of  any  other  mode 
of  treating  it  will  sooner  or  later  be  recognized.  The  value  of 
human  testimony  is  determinable  by  known  criteria,  which  can 
only  be  applied  by  a  critical  examination  of  the  statements  made, 
having  regard  also  to  what  is  ascertained  about  the  witnesses. 
Supposing  the  veracity  and  intelligence  of  the  latter  to  be  above 
suspicion,  we  have  to  consider  what  were  their  opportunities  for 
exact  observation,  with  reference,  of  course,  to  the  nature  of  the 
fact  observed.  The  latter,  indeed,  is  the  main  point,  because  we 
know  that  the  faculty  of  accurate  observation  differs  widely  in 
different  people,  and  we  cannot  have  the  same  confidence  in  this 
special  capacity  of  the  witness  that  we  may  have  in  his  general 
intelligence.  For  example :  during  the  prosecution  of  Slade  at 
Bow  Street  in  187G  by  Professor  Lankester,  the  latter  declared 
himself  unable  to  say  on  which  side  of  a  slate,  pressed  by  Slade 
against  the  under  surface  of  the  table,  a  certain  writing  was  pro¬ 
duced  ;  remarking,  that  the  slate  might  have  been  reversed  on 
withdrawal  by  sleight  of  hand,  and  that  it  was  part  of  the  art  of  a 
conjurer  to  effect  such  a  change  without  observation.  That  there 
was  some  force  in  this  suggestion  could  not  be  denied ;  *  and  had  a 
witness  in  support  of  Slade  stated  that  the  writing,  produced  under 
the  conditions  described,  appeared  on  the  side  of  the  slate  which 
was  pressed  against  the  table,  the  accuracy  of  his  observation,  and 
therefore  the  value  of  liis  testimony,  might  have  been  challenged 
on  this  ground.  How  far  a  similar  criticism  is  applicable  to  any 
of  the  facts  here  recorded  by  Professor  Zbllner,  to  any  of  them,  at 
least,  which  he  lays  stress  upon,  and  thinks  it  worth  while  particu¬ 
larly  to  describe,  the  reader  must  judge  for  himself.  But  take,  for 
instance,  those  of  which  circumstantial  accounts  are  given  at  pages 


*Tlie  writer  tested  it  afterwards,  by  making  Slade  withdraw  the  slate  very 
slowly,  inch  by  inch,  as  soon  as  the  sound  of  writing  ceased,  when  the  writing 
appeared  in  successive  lines  on  the  ttj'per  surface  of  the  slate  (that  against  the 
table). 


12 


translator’s  preface. 


14,  34,  and  91,  and  contrast  them,  in  relation  to  this  all-important 
point,  with  the  one  just  mentioned.  If  in  the  latter  case  average 
powers  of  observation  might  possibly  be  baffled,  in  the  others  the 
nature  of  the  phenomena  was  such  that,  so  far  as  Slade’s  physical 
instrumentality  in  them  is  in  question,  the  suggestion  that  it  might 
have  eluded  observation  will  be  felt  to  transgress  the  limits  pre¬ 
scribed  by  candor  and  common  sense. 

The  evidence  of  testimony  is  the  evidence  of  the  senses,  or,  to 
speak  more  accurately,  of  sense-impressions  as  interpreted  by  "he 
mind,  one  degree  removed.  The  only  elements  of  fallacy  possi¬ 
bly  added  by  testimony  to  original  observation  are  such  as  may 
result  from  defects  of  veracity,  defects  of  memory,  defects  of  judg¬ 
ment  as  to  what  is  material  to  be  mentioned,  and  defects  of  lan¬ 
guage,  or  the  understanding  of  it  by  the  recipient  of  the  testimony. 
In  short,  the  peculiar  infirmity  of  proof  by  testimony  is  the  uncer¬ 
tainty  whether  it  conveys  to  the  mind  an  exact  or  sufficient  tran¬ 
script  of  the  fact  as  it  was  perceived  by  the  original  observer. 
For  whatever  concerns  defects  of  observation  belongs  to  the  per¬ 
ception,  and  not  to  the  transmission  of  facts  by  testimony.  Even 
if  we  could  be  satisfied  that  we  had  got  a  perfect  copy  of  the  origi¬ 
nal  objective  impression  made  upon  the  witness,  we  still  could  not 
be  sure  that  the  fact  so  conveyed  to  us  would  not  have  contained 
more  or  less  for  ourselves  had  we  been  in  his  place.  In  all  mat¬ 
ters  requiring  skilled  observation,  it  is  obvious  that  the  testimony 
of  an  expert  has  far  higher  value  as  evidence  for  those  who  are 
not  experts  than  their  own  observations  would  have. 

In  considering  what  is  the  particular  risk  of  any  of  the  above- 
mentioned  fallacies  of  testimony,  except  the  first,  attaching  to  a 
statement  of  facts,  the  same  remark  is  applicable  as  has  been 
already  made  in  speaking  of  the  value  of  original  observations. 
Assuming  the  veracity  of  the  witness,  we  must  have  especial  regard 
to  the  nature  of  the  facts,  and  of  the  statements  concerning  them. 
Are  the  latter  so  full,  precise,  and  intelligible  as  to  evince  that 
the  witness  is  speaking  from  a  strong  recollection,  with  a  clear 
appreciation  of  what  is  necessary  to  be  known,  and  with  a  faculty 


translator’s  preface. 


1.°> 

of  expression  sufficient,  to  convey  distinct  and  unmistakable  mean¬ 
ings  to  an  ordinary  understanding?  In  order  to  know  whether 
the  statements  are  really  sufficient  in  these  respects,  we  have  to 
consider  what  is  the  fact  to  he  -proved  from  the  particular  facts 
described, —  as  iu  the  following  accounts  the  fact  to  be  proved  is 
that  Slade  had  no  active  physical  participation  in  the  production 
of  what  occurred.  Just  as  the  probative  force  of  original  observa¬ 
tion  depends  bn  the  supposition  that  no  circumstance  -which  could 
have  escaped  observation  would  impair  the  demonstration,  so  the 
probative  force  of  testimony  (veracity  being  granted)  is  addition¬ 
ally  less  iu  so  far  only  as  a  similarly  important  circumstance  actu¬ 
ally  observed  could  have  escaped  the  memory,  or  be  regarded  in 
the  judgment  of  the  witness  as  too  unimportant  for  mention.  As 
the  faculty  of  observation  differs  in  different  persons,  so  also  differ 
the  memory  and  intelligence.  But  as  there  are  limits,  which  it 
would  be  contrary  to  all  experience  to  suppose  exceeded,  to  the 
fallibility  of  observation',  so,  likewise,  we  cannot  ascribe  to  memory 
and  intelligence,  in  reference  to  deliberate  statements,  defects  so 
gross  that  we  should  infer  with  far  more  probability  intentional 
untruth. 

The  validity  of  testimony  to  facts  of  such  a  nature  that  conceiv¬ 
able  errors  of  observation,  memory,  and  judgment  may  be  left  out 
of  account  in  concluding  from  them  is  tjius  reduced  to  a  question 
of  veracity.  There  is  no  issue  so  studiously  shirked  as  this  by  the 
people  who  heap  contempt  on  all  evidence  in  favor  of  occult  phe¬ 
nomena.  The  imputation  of  lying  is  felt  to  be  too  crude,  coarse, 
and  unintelligent  a  way  out  of  the  difficulty.  Aud  so  we  hear  a 
great  deal  of  the  folly  and  credulity  of  the  witnesses,  and  of  their 
unacquaintance  with  the  wiles  of  the  conjurer,  but  hardly  at  all  of 
their  mendacity.  And  yet  no  testimonies,  taken  singly  at  least,  to 
such  things  are  worth  much,  unless  the  issue  can  be  narrowed  to 
this  of  veracity.  If  there  is  any  chance  or  possibility,  consistently 
with  the  witnesses’  truth,  of  the  whole  thing  being  only  a  more  or 
less  skillful  trick,  the  testimony  is  scarcely  worth  adducing  at  all. 

It  will  be  seeu  that  this  demand,  that  trickery  and  conjuring 


14 


TRANSLATOR  S  PREFACE 


sliull  not  be  sue-^ested  at  lare:e,  without  regard  to  the  nature  of 
what  occurs,  or  to  the  conditions  of  its  occurrence,  as  affording  or 
not  affording  opportunities  for  the  exercise  of  these  arts,  does  not 
require  from  the  critic  of  the  evidence  an  exposition  of  the  particu¬ 
lar  modus  operandi  of  the  supposed  conjurer,  which  only  the  lat¬ 
ter  could  supply.  No  one,  for  example,  is  called  upon  to  explain 
the  modus  operandi  of  Psycho’s  performances  at  the  Egyptian 
Hall,  or,  as  the  alternative,  to  admit  that  some  occult  agency  is 
concerned  in  them.  It  is  enough  that  on  Messrs.  Maskelyne  and 
Crookes’  own  stage  communication  with  the  automaton,  by  means 
known  to  science,  is  possible,  though  Mr.  Maskelyne  stands  at  a 
distance  from  it,  and  no  assistant  is  visible.  But  transport  Mr. 
Maskelyne  and  his  automaton  to  a  private  house,  to  a  room  which 
the  conjurer  has  never  entered  before,  of  which  he  has  had  no 
facilities  for  adapting  to  his  purposes;  let  him  be  unaccompanied 
by  any  assistant,  and  stand  aside  under  close  observation  while 
Psycho  plays  his  intelligent  hand  at  whist  with  some  of  the  com¬ 
pany,  or  works  out  the  sum3  in  arithmetic  which  they  set  him. 
There  would  then  arise  a  question  for  science  the  importance  of 
which  it  could  not  affect  to  underrate.  For  on  the  assumption  that 
Mr.  Maskelyne  was  directly  and  consciously  instrumental  in  what 
occurred,  it  must  be  that  he  had  discovered  a  method  of  applying 
and  directing  natural  forces  at  a  distance,*  while  apparently  him¬ 
self  inactive,  which  would  be  capable  of  the  most  practically  im¬ 
portant  uscs.f 

If,  now,  the  production  of  the  true  knots  in  an  endless  string, 
the  rending  of  Professor  Zdllncr’s  bed-screen,  the  disappearance  of 
the  small  table  and  its  subsequent  descent  from  the  ceiling,  in  full 
light,  in  a  private  house,  and  under  the  observed  conditions,  of 
which  the  most  noticeable  is  the  apparent  passivity  of  Slade  dur¬ 
ing  all  these  occurrences,  are  to  be  ascribed  to  any  conscious  opera¬ 
tion  of  his,  we  can  hardly  avoid  attributing  to  him  scientific  dis- 

•That  Psycho  is  not  vvorkcJ  by  Mr.  Maskelyne  himself  from  the  stage  by 
means  of  a  magnet  has  been  repeatedly  demonstrated. 

t  See  Appendix  C. 


translator’s  preface. 


15 


coveries,  or  tlie  possession  of  secrets  of  nature  at,  least  equally 
remarkable.  But  in  that  ease  he  could,  and  it  would  clearly  be 
his  interest  to  produce  these  and  similar  astonishing  effects  with 
constant  regularity.  Professor  Lankester  would  have  witnessed 
them  no  less  than  Professor  Zollner,  and  Slade  would  long  ago 
have  amassed  a  fortune  by  his  exhibitions.  The  fact  that  he  can¬ 
not  command  these  phenomena,  at  least  the  most  striking  of  them, 
at  will,  points  to  conditions  of  their  production  varying  with  his 
own  physical  and  mental  states,  and  probably  with  those  also  of  the 
persons  resorting  to  him.  And  this  is  the  reason  why  these  phe¬ 
nomena,  though  as  capable  of  verification  by  scientific  men  and 
trained  observers  (by  whom  they  have  in  fact  been  repeatedly 
verified)  as  by  any  one  else,  arc  not  exactly  suitable  for  scientific 
verification.  There  is  a  clear  distinction  between  the  two  things. 
Scientific  verification  supposes  that  the  conditions  of  an  experiment 
are  ascertained,  that  they  can  be  regularly  provided,  and  the  ex¬ 
periment  repeated  at  pleasure.  One  hears  occasionally  of  offers 
from  men  of  science  to  investigate  and  attest  certain  phenomena 
of  Spiritualism,  selected  by  themselves,  provided  they  can  witness 
them  under  conditions  of  their  own  prescribing.  These,  in  some 
cases  well-meant  overtures,  proceed  on  the  assumption  that  the 
phenomena,  if  genuine,  require  nothing  but  the  mere  physical 
presence  of  the  medium,  and  that  it  is  only  necessary  to  take  ade¬ 
quate  precautions  (no  matter  what  these  arc)  against  deception  by 
the  latter,  in  order  to  obtain  a  scientific  demonstration.  When 
such  an  offer  is  rejected  or  neglected,  the  inference  of  course  is 
drawn  that  the  “phenomena”  only  occur  when  facilities  for  their 
fraudulent  production  are  allowed.  Yet  it  is  equally  consistent 
with  the  medium’s  knowledge  that  the  conditions  (of  which  he  is 
himself  ignorant)  cannot  be  controlled,  and  with  his  consequent 
indisposition  to  be  put  upon  a  formal  trial  which  may  result  in 
failure  and  discredit.  Systematic  investigation  of  this  subject  by 
men  of  science  is  much  to  be  desired,  but  it  must  not  be  under¬ 
taken  iu  a  magisterial  spirit,  with  the  imposition  of  a  test,  and  the 
demand  of  an  immediate  result.  The  only  claim  which  spiritual- 


translator’s  prepack. 


10 


ists  make  upon  scientists  is  tlmt  they  shall  not,  in  entire  ignorance 
and  contempt  of  the  evidence,  sanction  and  encourage  the  public 
prejudice  by  their  authority.*  But  even  tills  claim  cannot  be 
preferred  with  confidence.  Since  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Society 
refused,  by  its  rejection  of  Mr.  Crookes’  paper,  “  On  the  Experi¬ 
mental  Investigation  of  a  Force,”  to  be  informed  of  the  evidence, 
it  must  be  considered  that  the  Fellows  of  that  distinguished  body 
do.  in  general,  dispose  of  the  question  on  a  •priori  grounds,  and 
hold  that  no  quantity  or  quality  of  human  testimony  can  suffice  to 
establish  facts  of  this  description,  or  even  a  primu  facie  case  in 
favor  of  them.  So  far  as  this  peremptory  rejection  appeals  to  the 
principle  of  incredulity  expounded  in  Hume’s  celebrated  Essay  on 
Miracles,  it  shows  an  utter  ignorance  of  the  reasoning  by  which 
that  monstrous  fallacy,  and  the  contradictions  in  which  its  author 
involved  himself,  have  been  repeatedly  exposed.  This  has  never 
been  better  done  than  in  the  introduction  to  Mr.  Alfred  Russel 
Wallace’s  book,  entitled  “  Miracles  and  Modern  Spiritualism.” 
There  is,  however,  another  proposition  commonly  put  forward  to 
dispose  a  priori  of  unacceptable  testimony,  substantially,  but  not 
logically,  equivalent  to  Ilume’s,  and  which  embodies  a  fallacy  no 
less  demonstrable,  though  so  widely  prevalent  as  to  necessitate 
particular  examination.  This  proposition  is  that  evidence,  to  com¬ 
mand  assent,  should  be  proportional  to  the  probability  or  improba¬ 
bility  of  the  fact  to  be  proved.  Two  years  ago  the  writer  dealt 
with  it  at  some  length  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Psychological 
Society,  and  which  is  reprinted  in  an  Appendix  at  the  end  of  this 
volume,  f  Inasmuch  as  the  fallacy  in  question,  and  the  loose  and 
inaccurate  phrases,  applied  to  the  whole  class  of  facts  now  in  evi¬ 
dence,  are  in  the  nature  of  preliminary  objections  to  the  testimony 
about  to  be  adduced,  the  reader  is  urgently  referred  to  that  essay, 
which  cannot  be  conveniently  comprised  within  the  limits  of  a 
preface. 

♦For  example,  by  describing  Spiritualism,  as  “a  kind  of  intellectual  whore¬ 
dom."  —  Professor  Tyndall. 

t  Appendix  A.  “  On  the  value  of  testimony  in  matters  extraordinary.” 


translator’s  preface. 


17 


Every  opponent  who  recognizes  the  obligation  of  dealing  seri¬ 
ously  with  evidence,  whether  by  explicitly  objecting  to  its  admissi¬ 
bility,  or  by  questioning  its  intrinsic  value,  must  be  fairly  and 
squarely  encountered.  To  writers  in  the  press  who  never  miss  an 
opportunity  of  discrediting  Spiritualism,  by  derisive  articles  on  the 
“exposures,”  real  or  reputed,  of  mediums,  and  on  the  occasional 
follies  of  spiritualists,  only  a  passing  word  can  be  spared.  To  the 
present  writer,  at  least,  so-called  Spiritualism  represents  no  relig¬ 
ious  craze  or  sectarian  belief,  but  an  aggregation  (not  yet  to  be 
called  a  system)  of  proven  facts  of  incalculable  importance  to 
science  and  speculation.  Those  who  so  regard  the  subject  would 
be  unmoved  in  their  convictions  of  its  truth  and  importance  though 
it  were  proved  that  every  medium  was  a  rogue,  and  that  many 
spiritualists  were  their  willing  dupes.  Much  of  the  evidence  on 
which  they  rely  has  proceeded  on  that  very  assumption,  and  on  the 
precautions  which  were  accordingly  taken.  In  noue  of  it  which  is 
imparted  to  the  public  does  the  element  of  personal  confidence  iu 
the  medium  enter  in  the  smallest  degree,  though  that  feeling 
doubtless  does  and  must  often  exist,  especially  when  the  manifesta¬ 
tions  occur,  as  they  often  do,  in  private  families,  and  with  persons 
whose  characters  are  beyond  all  suspicion. 

As  regards  the  medium,  Henry  Slade,  with  whom  Professor 
Zdllner’s  investigations  were  carried  on,  all  the  world  knows,  or  did 
know  a  few  years  ago,  that  he  was  convicted  at  How  Street  Police 
Court,  under  the  fourth  section  of  the  Vagrant  Act,  of  using  “  sub¬ 
tle  crafts  and  devices,  by  palmistry  or  otherwise,”  to  deceive  Pro¬ 
fessor  E.  Ray  Lankestcr,  F.R.S.,  and  certain  others;  that  he  was 
sentenced  by  Mr.  Flowers,  the  magistrate,  to  three  months’  impris¬ 
onment  with  hard  labor ;  and  that  the  conviction  was  afterwards 
quashed  on  appeal  to  the  Middlesex  Sessions,  for  a  formal  error  in 
the  conviction,  as  returned  to  that  Court.  Professor  Zollner  gives 
the  whole  report  of  the  various  proceedings  from  beginning  to  end, 
at  length,  in  his  book,  but  it  has  not  been  thought  necessary  to 
reproduce  it  here.  It  may  be  stated  generally  that  Professor  Lan- 
kester  had  two  sittings  with  Slade,  at  each  of  which  he  believed 


ltf  translator's  preface. 

himself  to  have  detected  the  mode  in  which  the  writing  was  pro¬ 
duced  on  the  slate.  On  the  second  occasion  he  was  accompanied 
hy  a  friend,  Dr.  Donkin,  whose  evidence  agreed  with  his  own. 
The  modus  operandi,  according  to  these  gentlemen,  was  this: 
Slade  took  one  of  his  own  slates,  and  held  it  for  a  time,  concealed 
from  the  view  of  his  visitors,  between  himself  and  the  table,  before 
placing  it  “  in  position,”  that  is,  pressed  against  the  under  surface 
of  the  corner  of  the  table,  for  the  pretended  purpose  of  obtaining 
“  Spirit-writing.”  During  this  interval  the  observers  detected 
sounds  as  of  writing,  and  observed  motions  of  Slade’s  arm,  sue'- 
gestive  that  ho  was  employed  in  writing  on  the  slate,  held,  prob¬ 
ably,  between  his  legs.  As  to  other  “  messages,”  obtained  while 
the  slate  was  in  position,  they  supposed  Slade  to  indite  them  by 
means  of  a  bit  of  pencil  stuck  in  the  nail  of  one  of  his  lingers. 
At  length,  after  hearing  writing  as  first  described,  Professor  Lan- 
kestcr  snatched  the  slate  from  Slade’s  hand  as  soon  as  it  was 
placed  against  the  table,  and  found  the  message  already  inscribed 
upon  it. 

Such  was  the  clumsy  trick  —  if  trick  indeed  proceedings  so 
imperfectly  disguised  can  be  called — -of  which  a  man,  who,  if  not 
a  “medium,”  is  unquestionably  the  most  wonderful  conjurer  and 
illusionist  in  the  world,  was  convicted,  by  inference,  to  use  the 
magistrate’s  expression,  “  from  the  known  course  of  nature.”  And 
there  the  matter  might  be  left  to  the  reader’s  rellcctions.  Some 
few  additional  facts  must,  however,  be  stated.  Previous  to  Pro¬ 
fessor  Lankester’s  visit  to  him,  Slade  had  been  two  months  in 
London,  being  on  his  way  to  St.  Petersburg,  where  he  was  under 
an  engagement  with  a  scientific  committee  of  the  Imperial  Univer¬ 
sity  of  that  city.  During  this  time  he  had  been  giving  sittings  to 
all  comers,  including  not  a  few  of  literary  and  scientific  attain¬ 
ments.  We  may  safely  conclude  that  the  great  impression  he  had 
produced  was  not  the  result  of  proceedings  such  as  those  described 
by  his  accusers.  Among  those  named  in  the  information  against 
him,  and  whom  lie  was  charged,  contrary,  it  was  understood,  to 
their  express  wish,  with  having  deceived,  were  several  well-known 


TRANSLATOR S  PREFACE. 


19 


gentlemen,  Dr.  W.  B.  Carpenter,  F.R.S.,  being  one.  Only  one 
of  these  gentlemen,  Mr.  11.  H.  Hutton,  was  called  as  a  witness  by  the 
prosecution.  His  evidence  was  on  the  whole  favorable  to  the 
accused.  Of  other  witnesses  called  by  the  prosecution,  not  one 
professed  to  have  detected  trickery,  though  all  seemed  to  suspect 
it.  For  the  defence,  it  was  proposed  to  call  a  number  of  wit¬ 
nesses  of  education  and  intelligence,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  evi¬ 
dence  of  phenomena  —  slate-writing  and  other — witnessed  by 
them  in  Slade’s  presence,  of  a  character  and  under  conditions 
wholly  inconsistent  with  any  agency  of  his.  Four  only  were 
allowed  to  give  evidence,  one  of  them  being  Mr.  A.  R.  Wallace, 
the  eminent  naturalist.  The  present  writer  had  been  called  by  the 
prosecution  (he  being  counsel  in  the  case  for  another  defendant), 
but  believes  that  his  evidence  could  not  have  been  entirely  satis¬ 
factory  to  that  side.  The  effect  of  the  evidence  was  described  by 
the  magistrate  from  the  bench  as  “overwhelming;”  but  in  giving 
judgment  he  expressly  excluded  it  from  consideration,  confining 
himself  to  the  evidence  of  the  complainant,  Professor  Lankester, 
and  of  Dr.  Donkin,  and  basing  his  decision  upon  “inferences  to  be 
drawn  from  the  known  course  of  nature” — a  main  question  in  the 
case  being  whether  there  are  not  some  operations  in  nature  not 
“generally  known.”  An  attempt  had  been  made,  with  the  wholly 
irregular  assistance  of  Mr.  John  Nevil  Maskelyne,  the  professional 
conjurer,  to  show  that  the  table  used  by  Slade,  and  which  was  pro¬ 
duced  in  court  by  the  defence,  was  a  “  trick  table,”  and  expressly 
constructed  to  assist  in  the  effects  at  the  seances.  This  attempt 
utterly  broke  down.  In  order  to  allow  room  for  the  slate  to  bo 
placed  in  the  position  usual  for  obtaining  writing,  a  single  central 
support  was  used  for  the  flap  of  the  table  instead  of  side  ledges. 
A  wedge  inserted  at  the  pivot  of  this  support  had  been  pointed  out 
as  a  most  suspicious  feature ;  it  was  explained  by  the  carpenter 
that  he  had  inserted  it  himself,  without  orders,  for  the  simple  pur¬ 
pose  of  remedying  a  defect  in  his  own  construction  of  the  table. 
Professor  Lankester,  in  his  evidence,  had  described  the  table, 
before  its  production  in  court,  as  without  a  frame,  and  as  thus 


20 


translator’s  preface. 


enabling  Slade  to  move  bis  legs  and  knees  under  it  with  greater 
facility.  It  turned  out  that  the  table  bad  a  frame  of  rather  greater 
depth  than  usual.  The  table  was  impounded,  and  remained  for 
several  months  in  the  custody  of  the  court,  and  open  to  inspection 
and  examination  for  concealed  magnets,  and  so  forth.  None  were 
discovered,  and  the  table  is  now  at  the  rooms  of  the  British 
National  Association  of  Spiritualists,  at  38  Great  Russell  Street, 
where  it  can  be  seen  by  the  curious. 

Nothing  was  more  prejudicial  to  Slade,  or  more  tended  to  pro¬ 
duce  the  impression  that  he  was  an  impostor  than  his  ascribing  the 
“messages”  on  his  slates  to  spirits  of  the  dead.  “  Allie,”  bis 
deceased  wife;  Professor  Lankester’s  fictitious  “Uncle  John:” 
the  random  names  that  came,  and  the  messages  of  recognition  to 
which  they  were  signed,  naturally  seemed  to  the  public,  little  j 
accustomed,  or  in  this  case  disposed,  to  distinguish  issues,  even 
more  indicative  of  fraud  than  the  direct  evidence.  The  writer, 
from  the  intimate  knowledge  he  acquired  of  Slade,  is  satisfied  that 
the  latter  really  believed  in  the  identity  of  his  “spirits.”  Nor  was 
this  belief  at  all  unnatural.  A  large  proportion  of  his  visitors  do 
obtain  writing  signed  by  the  names  of  deceased  friends  of  whom 
usually  Slade  has  never  heard;  this  being  often  the  case  with 
strangers  visiting  him  for  the  first  time.  That  there  is  any  “  pump¬ 
ing”  process  applied  to  his  visitors  before  sitting  for  the  writing  is 
utterly  untrue.  This  suggestion  was  put  forward  as  part  of  the 
case  of  the  prosecution  in  the  opening  statement;  and  it  had  its 
effect  on  the  public  mind ;  but  not  one  particle  of  evidence  was 
adduced  in  support  of  it;  on  the  contrary,  all  the  witnesses,  upon 
cross-examination,  admitted  that  no  questions  were  put  to  them, 
nor  was  any  attempt  made  to  draw  them  into  conversation  before 
the  sittings ;  and  it  was  on  this  ground  that  a  charge  of  conspir¬ 
acy  against  Slade  and  another  defendant,  Simmons,  broke  down 
and  was  dismissed.  It  was  a  suggestion  which  seems  to  have  been 
made  simply  because,  on  the  assumption  that  Slade  was  an  habit¬ 
ual  impostor,  it  ought  to  have  been  true,  and  perhaps  it  was 


translator’s  preface. 


21 


expected  that  something  of  the  sort  would  turn  up  in  the  evi 
dence. 

To  the  writer,  it  has  always  appeared  that  the  presence  of  a 
departed  friend,  in  propria  persona ,  is  very  insufficiently  proved 
by  communications  purporting  to  be  thus  derived,  even  when  all 
knowledge  by  the  medium  of  the  name  of  the  deceased,  or  of  the 
circumstances  called  to  the  recollection  of  the  survivor  by  way  of 
identification,  can  be  conclusively  disproved.  We  are  so  pro¬ 
foundly  ignorant  of  the  deeper  mysteries  of  life  that  in  this  region 
we  are  not  entitled  to  accept  an  explanation  as  true  simply 
because  it  is  sufficient,  and  because  we  cannot  represent  to  our¬ 
selves  any  other.  Usually,  in  the  writer’s  experience  invariably, 
in  these  communications  any  attempt  to  pursue  the  test  by  fur¬ 
ther  probing  the  memory  and  intelligence  of  the  supposed  spirit 
results  in  failure.  And  the  frequency  of  admittedly  deceptive  com¬ 
munications  proves  at  least  that  there  are  mixed  influences  abroad, 
and  that  the  hospitality  of  the  medium’s  spiritual  neighborhood  is 
shared  by  very  questionable  guests.  Some  time  before  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  the  proceedings  against  Slade,  the  writer,  being 
extremely  skeptical  of  spirit-identity,  wrote  a  fictitious  name  on  the 
back  of  a  slate  (carefully  concealing  the  side  on  which  he  wrote, 
and  the  motions  of  the  pencil),  and  handing  the  slate,  clean  side 
uppermost,  to  Slade,  requested  that  the  individual  whose  name  was 
written  would  communicate,  if  present.  Slade  took  the  slate  with¬ 
out  reversing  it,  and  laid  a  morsel  of  pencil  upon  it;  then  at  once 
pressed  it  against  the  under  surface  of  the  corner  of  the  table,  so 
that  the  clean  side  was  in  contact  with  that  surface,  the  side  on 
which  the  name  was  written  being  the  lower  one.  Writing  was 
heard  directly,  and  the  slate  being  withdrawn  and  immediately 
inspected,  on  its  upper  side  was  found  a  kind  little  message  of 
friendly  remembrance  signed  by  the  fictitious  name.  Never  was 
the  writer  more  satisfied  of  Slade’s  integrity  than  on  this  occasion, 
and  the  circumstance  is  only  mentioned  here  to  show  how  distinct 
are  issues  which  were  confused  in  the  Slade  prosecution.  Such 
experiments,  however,  are  regarded  by  spiritualists  as  highly 


22 


translator’s  preface. 


objectionable.  They  believe,  and  they  have  some  grounds  in 
experience  for  their  belief,  that  fraud  in  the  investigator  will,  by  a 
subtle  attraction,  elicit  fraud  in  the  manifestations.  Some  go  fur¬ 
ther,  and  maintain  that  the  strong  animus  of  prejudice,  uncon¬ 
sciously  but  powerfully  willing  the  very  appearances  it  expects, 
may  mesmerically  control  the  sensitive  medium,  and  force  his 
actions  in  the  direction  it  dictates. 

But  to  return  from  this  degression  : 

Immediately  after  the  conviction  was  quashed,  Professor  Lan- 
kester  applied  for  and  obtained  a  fresh  summons  against  Slade,  as 
it  was  stated,  “in  the  interest  of  science.”  (He  had  already,  in 
the  “  Times,”  described  the  proceedings  of  the  British  Association 
as  having  been  “degraded”  by  the  introduction  of  the  subject  of 
Spiritualism,  on  which  Professor  Barrett  had  read  a  paper.) 
But  meanwhile,  Slade  had  broken  down  under  the  pressure  of 
anxiety,  and  the  agitation  caused  by  public  contumely  and  his  own 
indignant  sense  of  wrong.  He  had  resolutely  refused  to  listen  to 
suggestions  that  he  should  leave  the  country,  by  consent  of  his 
bail,  before  the  appeal  case  came  on.  As  the  time  approached,  he 
had  a  slight  attack  of  brain  fever,  as  was  certified  by  two  physi¬ 
cians.  During  its  continuance  he  was  occasionally  delirious,  and  the 
writer  saw  him  in  this  condition.  Partially  recovered,  he  with 
difficulty  dragged  himself  to  the  court;  he  appeared  apathetic  and 
almost  unconscious  during  its  critical  proceedings.  It  was  the 
belief  of  his  friends  that  further  persecution  would  kill  him  out¬ 
right  ;  but,  independently  of  this,  immediate  change  of  scene  and 
associations  was  imperatively  necessary  to  his  recovery.  He  left 
England  with  his  niece  and  with  his  friend  Mr.  Simmons  a  day  or 
two  after  the  appeal  case  was  determined.  From  the  Hague,  after 
a  rest  of  a  few  months,  he  addressed,  through  Mr.  Simmons,  the 
following  offer  to  his  accuser ;  — 

“Professor  E.  B.  Lankester  —  Dear  Sir, —  Dr.  Slade  having 
in  some  measure  recovered  from  his  very  severe  illness,  and  his 
engagement  to  St.  Petersburg  having  been  postponed  (by  desire 


translator’s  preface. 


23 


of  Ills  friends  there)  till  the  autumn,  desires  me  to  make  the  fol¬ 
lowing  offer :  — 

“  He  is  willing  to  return  to  London  for  the  express  and  sole 
purpose  of  satisfying  you  that  the  slate-writing  occurring  in  his 
presence  is  in  no  way  produced  by  any  trickery  of  his.  For  this 
purpose  he  will  come  to  your  house  unaccompanied  by  any  one, 
and  will  sit  with  you  at  your  own  table,  using  your  own  slate  and 
pencil;  or,  if  you  prefer  to  come  to  his  room,  it  will  suit  him  as 
well. 

“In  the  event  of  any  arrangement  being  agreed  upon,  Slade 
would  prefer  that  the  matter  should  be  kept  strictly  private. 

“  As  he  never  can  guarantee  results,  you  shall  give  him  as  many 
as  six  trials,  and  more  if  it  shall  be  deemed  advisable.  And  you 
shall  be  put  to  no  charge  or  expense  whatever. 

“  You  on  your  part  shall  undertake  that  during  the  period  of 
the  sittings,  and  for  one  week  afterwards,  you  will  neither  take 
nor  cause  to  be  taken,  nor  countenance,  legal  proceedings  against 
him  or  me.  That  if  in  the  end  you  are  satisfied  that  the  slate- 
writing  is  produced  otherwise  than  by  trickery,  you  shall  abstain 
altogether  from  further  proceedings  against  us,  and  suffer  us  to 
remain  in  England,  if  we  choose  to  do  so,  unmolested  by  you. 

“  If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  are  not  so  satisfied,  you  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  proceed  against  us,  after  the  expiration  of  one  week  from 
the  conclusion  of  the  six  or  more  experiments,  if  we  arc  still  in 
England.  You  will  observe  that  Slade  is  willing  to  go  to  you 
without  witnesses  of  his  own,  and  to  trust  entirely  to  your  honor 
and  good  faith. 

“  Conscious  of  his  own  innocence,  he  has  no  malice  against  you 
for  the  past.  lie  believes  that  you  were  very  naturally  deceived 
by  appearances  which  to  one  who  had  not  previously  verified  the 
phenomena  under  more  satisfactory  conditions  may  well  have 
seemed  suspicious.  Should  we  not  hear  from  you  within  ten  days 
from  tills  date,  Slade  will  conclude  that  you  have  declined  bis 
offer. —  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  Simmons.” 

“37  Si'CJi  Stueet,  The  Hagce,  May  7th,  1877. 


24 


translator’s  preface. 


To  this  letter  no  answer  was  ever  received. 

After  a  long  rest  on  the  Continent,  Slade  was  able  to  give  the 
wonderful  seances  recorded  in  this  volume.  He  went  on  to  St. 
Petersburg  and  fulfilled  his  engagement  there.  Returning  to 
London  for  a  day  or  two  in  1878,  he  embarked  for  Australia,  and 
made  a  great  impression  in  the  colonies.  He  returned  to  America 
by  San  Francisco  last  year,  and  is  now  once  more  in  New  York. 
During  his  travels  after  leaving  England,  he  is  said  to  have  suf¬ 
fered  from  a  partial  paralysis,  induced  by  his  troubles  here. 

With  Slade,  as  with  no  other  medium  known  to  the  writer,  the 
conditions  of  investigation  are  essentially  simplified  by  the  fact 
that  he  invariably  sits  with  his  visitors  in  a  full  light.  “In  the 
interests  of  science  ”  it  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  he  may  be 
able  to  revisit  London,  liberated  by  an  improved  state  of  public 
opinion  from  all  danger  of  molestation.  We  who  urge  the  truth 
of  these  things  are  only  anxious  that  the  investigation  should  be 
conducted  in  the  light  of  day,  and  by  the  most  competent  persons. 
So  strong  is  this  feeling,  that  it  is  believed  a  fund  would  easily  be 
raised  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  Slade  over  to  England  and 
placing  him  in  the  hands  of  a  scientific  committee  who  should 
examine  this  question  of  the  slate-writing  with  the  facilities  sug¬ 
gested  in  the  offer  of  Slade  to  Professor  Lankester.  That  the  Slade 
prosecution  was  designed  to  deal  a  blow  at  Spiritualism,  or  rather 
at  the  serious  investigation  of  facts  which  are  usually  included  in 
that  term,  will  hardly  be  doubted.  But  without  in  the  least 
questioning  that  Professor  Lankester  bad  in  his  own  belief,  as  in 
that  of  the  vast  majority  of  the  public,  the  strongest  justification 
for  the  course  he  took,  it  is  to  be  trusted  that  a  truer  apprecia¬ 
tion  of  the  interests  of  science  will  shortly  prevail.  Professor 
Zollner  in  these  volumes,  speaking  from  the  point  of  view  of  a 
true  man  of  science,  expresses  his  indignation  at  these  transactions 
in  England,  and  at  the  unmeasured  abuse  of  Slade  in  the  German 
press,  in  strong  terms.  The  translator  has  thought  it  better  to 
omit  all  this,  leaving  the  facts  to  speak  for  themselves,  and  in  the 


translator’s  preface. 


25 


assurance  that  hereafter,  if  not  at  present,  public  opinion  will  pro¬ 
nounce  a  just  judgment  upon  them. 

Professor  Zollner’s  polemic,  referred  to  in  his  dedication  to  Mr. 
Crookes,  has  a  far  wider  scope  and  application  than  will  be  appar¬ 
ent  from  the  following  translation.  He  has  set  himself,  in  the 
course  of  these  treatises,  to  encounter  with  unsparing  force  certain 
tendencies  among  men  of  science,  and  in  the  Press,  which  he 
regards  as  demoralizing  in  the  highest  degree.  All  particular 
reference  to  these  subjects  is  here  avoided.  This  is  almost  exclu¬ 
sively  a  volume  of  evidences,  and  the  introduction  of  other  topics 
of  controversy  might  not  be  favorable  to  the  judicial  calmness  with 
which  the  former  should  be  considered.  Nevertheless,  the  belief 
may  be  avowed  that  the  substantiation  of  the  facts  before  us,  in 
scientific  and  public  ojrinion,  cannot  fail  to  have,  indirectly,  a 
revolutionary  effect  on  many  departments  of  speculation  and  prac¬ 
tice.  All  that  is  asked  at  present,  however,  is  a  fair  judgment  on 
the  facts  themselves,  without  regard  to  the  possible  extent  of  their 
significance.  For  further  and  very  striking  evidences  of  the  phe¬ 
nomenon  of  writing  by  unknown  agencies,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  a  small  volume  entitled  “  Psychography,”  by  M.  A.  (Oxon)  : 
(Harrison,  London,  1878.) 

Although  the  popular  suggestion  that  the  phenomena  of  Spirit¬ 
ualism  arc  merely  conjuring  under  false  pretenses  will  not  find 
acceptance  with  any  one  who  seriously  considers  the  evidence,  it 
has  been  thought  worth  while  to  meet  it  additionally  by  the  testi¬ 
monies  of  some  well-known  experts  in  the  arts  of  illusion.  These 
will  be  found  in  Appendices  B  and  C ;  the  evidence  of  Bcllachini, 
Court  Conjurer  at  Berlin,  who  was  employed  to  conduct  a  system¬ 
atic  investigation  of  the  phenomena  in  Slade’s  presence,  is  espe¬ 
cially  remarkable. 

The  literary  merit  of  the  following  translation  is  of  such  infinite 
unimportance  in  comparison  with  the  matter  that  the  writer  hardly 
cares  to  disarm  criticism  on  this  point,  provided  the  substantial 
accuracy  of  the  rendering  is  not  impugned.  He  is  quite  sensible 
of  its  other  defects,  and  has  only  to  plead  that  he  is  almost  entirely 


26 


TRANSLATORS  PREFACE. 


self-taught  in  German,  having  never  visited  countries  in  which  it 
is  spoken,  or  studied  for  any  length  of  time  under  a  master.  He 
has  only  undertaken  the  work  because  it  seemed  that  otherwise  it 
would  not  be  done  at  all,  or  at  least  not  yet.  Nor  has  he  any 
pecuniary  interest  in  it.  He  now  gives  it  to  the  English  public 
in  the  hope  that  it  may  conduce  to  a  more  rational  appreciation 
and  to  a  juster  treatment  of  evidence  on  this  subject  than  haa 
hitherto  prevailed. 


AUTHOR’S  DEDICATION. 


TO  WILLIAM  CROOKES,  F.R.S. 

With  the  feeling  of  sincere  gratitude,  and  recognition  of  your 
immortal  deserts  in  the  foundation  of  a  new  science,  I  dedicate  to 
you,  highly-honored  colleague,  this  Third  Volume  of  my  Scien¬ 
tific  Treatises.  By  a  strange  conjunction  our  scientific  endeavors 
have  met  upon  the  same  field  of  light,  and  of  a  new  class  of  phys¬ 
ical  phenomena  which  proclaim  to  astonished  mankind,  witli 
assurance  no  longer  doubtful,  the  existence  of  another  material  and 
intelligent  world.  As  two  solitary  wanderers  on  high  mountains 
joyfully  greet  one  another  at  their  encounter,  when  passing  storm 
and  clouds  veil  the  summit  to  which  they  aspire,  so  I  rejoice  to 
have  met  you,  undismayed  champion,  upon  this  new  province  of 
science.  To  you,  also,  ingratitude  and  scorn  have  been  abund¬ 
antly  dealt  out  by  the  blind  representatives  of  modern  science,  and 
by  the  multitude  befooled  through  their  erroneous  teaching.  May 
you  be  consoled  by  the  consciousness  that  the  undying  splendor 
with  which  the  names  of  a  Newton  and  a  Faraday  have  illustrated 
the  history  of  the  English  people  can  be  obscured  by  nothing,  not 
even  by  the  political  decline  of  this  great  nation :  even  so  will 
your  name  survive  iu  the  history  of  culture,  adding  a  new  orna¬ 
ment  to  those  with  which  the  English  nation  has  endowed  the 
human  race.  Your  courage,  your  admirable  acuteness  in  experi¬ 
ment,  and  your  incomparable  perseverance,  will  raise  for  you  a 

(27) 


28 


author’s  dedication. 


memorial  in  the  hearts  of  grateful  posterity,  as  indestructible  as  the 
marble  of  the  statues  at  Westminster.  Accept,  then,  this  work 
as  a  token  of  thanks  and  sympathy  poured  out  to  you  from  an 
honest  German  heart.  If  ever  the  ideal  of  a  general  peace  on  this 
earth  shall  be  realized,  this  will  assuredly  be  the  result  not  of 
political  speeches  and  agitations,  in  which  human  vanity  always 
demands  its  tribute,  but  of  the  bond  of  extended  knowledge  and 
advancing  information,  for  which  we  have  to  thank  such  heroes 
of  true  science  as  Copernicus,  Galileo,  Kepler,  Newton,  Faraday, 
Wilhelm  Weber,  and  yourself.*  ***** 

In  the  first  place  it  is  necessary  that  the  truth  should  be  regard- 
lessly  outspoken,  in  order  to  encounter  lies  and  tyranny,  no  matter 
under  what  shape  they  threaten  to  impede  human  progress,  with 
energy  and  effect.  In  this  sense  I  beg  you  to  judge  my  combat 
against  scientific  and  moral  offenses,  not  only  in  my  own  but  also 
in  your  country. 

Every  polemic,  even  the  justest,  has  in  it  something  uncon¬ 
genial,  like  the  sight  of  a  battle  or  of  a  bloody  battle-field.  For 
hereby  is  man  reminded  impressively  of  the  imperfections  and 
faults  of  his  earthly  existence.  And  yet  are  gathered  the  noblest 
blossoms  of  the  human  heart,  in  its  self-renouncing  devotion  of  the 
dearest  to  the  Fatherland,  round  the  graves  of  the  fallen  warriors. 
The  poetry  and  history  of  all  peoples  glorify  these  blood-saturated 
spots  with  their  noblest  breath,  and  the  returning  spring  sees 
crosses  woven  with  roses  and  ivy,  where  a  year  before  the  battle 
raged.  So,  hereafter,  will  this  literary  battle-field  appear  to  the 
generation  growing  up.  They  will  have  understood  the  moral 
necessity  of  the  strife,  and  in  the  morning  splendor  of  a  new  epoch 
of  human  culture  will  have  forgotten  the  repulsiveness  {das 
TJnsymp  atlas  die)  of  my  polemic. 

But  united  England  and  Germany  may  always  remember  the 
words  of  your  great  physicist,  Sir  David  Brewster,  who,  in  his 


*  Here  follow  references  to  subjects  of  controversy  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  tills 
translation,  and  which  occupy  much  of  this,  as  of  the  preceding  volumes  of  the 
treatises. 


author’s  dedication. 


29 


“  Life  of  Newton,”  reminds  us  of  the  indestructibility  and  immor¬ 
tality  of  the  works  of  human  genius :  — 

“  The  achievements  of  genius,  like  the  source  from  which  they 
spring,  are  indestructible.  Acts  of  legislation  and  deeds  of  war 
may  confer  a  high  celebrity,  but  the  reputation  which  they  bring  is 
only  local  and  transient;  and  while  they  are  hailed  by  the  nation 
which  they  benefit,  they  are  reproached  by  the  people  whom  they 
ruin  or  enslave.  The  labors  of  science,  on  the  contrary,  bear 
along  with  them  no  counterpart  of  evil.  They  are  the  liberal 
bequests  of  great  minds  to  every  individual  of  their  race,  and 
wherever  they  are  welcomed  and  honored,  they  become  the  solace 
of  private  life,  and  the  ornament  and  bulwark  of  the  Common¬ 
wealth.” 

With  these  consolatory  words  of  one  of  your  celebrated  country¬ 
men,  accept,  my  honored  friend,  the  present  work  as  a  token  of  the 
sincere  esteem  of  the  Author. 


Leipsic,  October  1st,  1879. 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS 


CHAPTEK  FIRST. 

ON  SPACE  OP  POUR  DIMENSIONS.* 


GAUSS’  AND  KANT’S  THEORY  OF  SPACE — THE  PRACTICAL  APPLICATION  OF 
THE  THEORY  IN  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  HENRY  SLADE  —  TRUE  KNOTS  PRODUCED 
UPON  A  CORD  WITH  ITS  ENDS  IN  VIEW  AND  SEALED  TOGETHER. 


In  the  first  treatise  the  author  shows  that  both  Newton  and 
Faraday  were  advocates  of  the  theory  of  direct  action  at  a  distance 


•This  first  chapter  consists  of  an  article  which  appeared  in  the  Quarterly  Jour¬ 
nal  of  Science,  April,  1878,  and  is  reprinted  here  by  permission  of  Mr.  William 
Crookes,  F.R.S.  The  facts  are  from  “  Wissenschaftliche  Abhandlungen  von  Job. 
Carl  Friedrich  Zollner,  Professor  der  Ast.ropysik  an  dor  Uni versitat  zu  Leipzig. 
Erster  Band,  Leipzig:  L.  Staackmann,  1878.  (With  portraits  and  facsimilics  of 
Newton,  Kant,  and  Faraday.  Svo,  732  pages.)  ” 

CONTENTS. 

1.  On  action  at  a  Distance. 

2.  Emil  du  Bois  Reymond  and  the  Limits  of  Natural  Knowledge. 

3.  Newton’s  Law  of  Gravitation,  and  its  Derivation  from  the  Static  Effects 

of  Electricity. 

4.  The  Laws  of  Friction,  and  their  Deduction  from  the  Dynamic  Effects  of 

Electricity. 

5.  As  to  the  Existence  of  Moving  Electric  Particles  in  All  Bodies. 

6.  Adhesion  and  Cohesion  as  deducted  from  the  Dynamic  Forces  of  Elec¬ 

tricity. 

7.  8,  9.  The  Mechanical,  the  Magnetical,  and  the  Electrical  Effects  of  Light 

and  of  Radiant  Heat. 

10.  Radiometrical  Researches. 

11, 12.  On  the  Theory  of  Electric  Emission  and  its  Cosmical  Application. 

13.  Thomson's  Demons  and  the  Phantoms  of  Plato. 


(30 


32 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


through  a  vacuum,  in  opposition  to  the  views  of  many  modern 
scientific  men.  In  the  last  treatise,  which  is  of  the  highest  inter¬ 
est,  the  author  describes  experiments  which  he  made  in  Leipzic, 
in  December,  1877,  with  Mr.  Henry  Slade,  the  American.  These 
experiments  were  only  the  practical  application  of  Gauss’  and 
Kant’s  theory  of  space,  which  these  two  eminent  men  imagined 
might  contain  more  than  three  dimensions.  The  author  will  try 
to  give  to  the  readers  of  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science  an  idea 
of  this  theory,  though  he  must  of  course  refer  to  the  work  itself 
for  a  more  ample  explanation  of  it. 

In  accordance  with  Kant,  Schopenhauer,  and  Helmholtz,  the 
author  regards  the  application  of  the  law  of  causality  as  a  func¬ 
tion  of  the  human  intellect  given  to  man  a  priori ,  i.e.,  before  all 
experience.  The  totality  of  all  empirical  experience  is  communi¬ 
cated  to  the  intellect  by  the  senses,  i.e.,  by  organs  which  communi¬ 
cate  to  the  mind  all  the  sensual  impressions  which  arc  received  at 
the  surface  of  our  bodies.  These  impressions  are  a  reality  to  us, 
and  their  sphere  is  two-dimensional,  acting  not  in  our  body,  but 
only  on  its  surface. 

We  have  only  attained  the  conception  of  a  world  of  objects  with 
three  dimensions  by  an  intellectual  process.  What  circumstances, 
we  may  ask,  have  compelled  our  intellect  to  come  to  this  result? 
If  a  child  contemplate  its  hand,  it  is  conscious  of  its  existence  in  a 
double  manner, —  in  the  first  place  by  its  tangibility,  in  the  second 
by  its  image  on  the  retina  of  the  eye.  By  repeated  groping  about 
and  touching,  the  child  knows  by  experience  that  his  hand  retains 
the  same  form  and  extension  through  all  the  variations  of  distance 
and  positions  under  which  it  is  observed,  notwithstanding  that  the 
form  and  extension  of  the  image  on  the  retina  constantly  change 
with '  the  different  position  and  distance  of  the  hand  in  respect  to 
the  eye.  The  problem  is  thus  set  to  the  child’s  understanding : 
How  to  reconcile  to  its  comprehension  the  apparently  contradictory 
facts  of  the  invariableness  of  the  object,  together  with  the  varia¬ 
bleness  of  its  appearance.  This  is  only  possible  within  space  of 
three  dimensions,  in  which,  owing  to  perspective  distortions  and 


ON  SPACE  OF  FOUK  DIMENSIONS. 


33 


changes,  these  variations  of  projection  can  he  reconciled  with  the 
constancy  of  the  form  of  a  body. 

So,  likewise,  in  the  stereoscope,  the  representation  of  the  corpo¬ 
reality —  i.e.,  of  the  third  dimension  —  springs  up  in  our  mind 
when  the  task  is  presented  to  our  intellect  to  refer  at  once  two 
different  plane  pictures,  without  contradiction,  to  one  single  object. 

Consequently  our  contemplation  of  a  three-dimension  space  has 
been  developed  by  means  of  the  law  of  causality,  which  has  been 
implanted  in  us  a  priori,  and  we  have  come  to  the  idea  of  the 
third  dimension  in  order  to  overcome  the  apparent  inconsistency 
of  facts,  of  the  existence  of  which  experience  daily  convinces  us. 

The  moment  we  observe  in  three-dimensioned  space  contra¬ 
dictory  facts,  i.e.,  facts  which  would  force  us  to  ascribe  to  a  body 
two  attributes  or  qualities  which  hitherto  we  thought  could  not 
exist  together, —  the  moment,  I  say,  in  which  we  should  observe 
such  contradictory  facts  in  a  three-dimension  body,  our  reason 
would  at  once  be  forced  to  reconcile  these  contradictions. 

There  would  be  such  a  contradiction,  for  example,  if  we  were  to 
ascribe  to  one  and  the  same  object  at  once  mutability  and  immuta¬ 
bility,  the  most  universal  attribute  of  a  body  being  the  quantity 
of  its  ponderable  matter.  In  conformity  with  our  present  experi¬ 
ence  we  consider  this  attribute  as  unalterable.  As  soon,  however, 
as  phenomena  occur  which  prove  it  to  be  alterable,  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  generalize  our  representation  of  the  ideality  of  a  body 
so  as  to  bring  the  observed  change  in  the  quantity  of  its  matter  in 
accordance  with  its  hitherto-imagined  unchangeableness. 

On  page  235  of  his  book  the  author  quotes  the  celebrated 
mathematician  Itiomann,  who  says  in  his  work  Concerning  the 
Hypotheses  upon  which  Geometry  is  founded:  — 

“  The  explanation  of  these  facts  can  only  be  found  by  starting 
from  the  actual  theories  of  the  appearance  of  all  phenomena  which 
are  confirmed  by  experience,  and  of  which,  as  they  now  arc,  New¬ 
ton  has  laid  the  foundation.  Urged  forward  by  facts,  which  we 
cannot  explain  through  our  hitherto-conceived  theories,  we  slowly 
remodel  our  conceptions.  If  phenomena  occur  which,  according 


34 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


to  our  conception,  were  to  be  expected  with  probability,  our  theo¬ 
ries  are  confirmed,  and  our  confidence  in  them  is  founded  upon  this 
confirmation  by  experience.  If,  however,  something  occurs  which 
wre  do  not  expect,  which  according  to  our  theory  was  improbable 
or  impossible,  the  task  is  imposed  on  us  to  remodel  our  theory,  in 
order  to  make  the  observed  facts  cease  to  be  in  contradiction  with 
our  improved  theory.  The  completion  of  our  system  of  ideas 
forms  the  explanation  of  the  unexpected  observation.  Our  con¬ 
ception  of  nature  by  this  process  grows  slowly  to  be  more  com¬ 
plete  and  more  just,  at  the  same  time  it  retreats  more  and  more 
beneath  the  surface  of  appearances.” 

I  now  proceed  to  apply  the  higher  conception  of  space  to  the 
theory  of  twisting  a  perfectly  flexible  cord.  Let  us  consider  such 
a  cord  to  be  represented  by  a  b,  showing  us,  when  stretched,  a 
development  of  space  in  one  dimension  — 

(a - b ) 

If  the  cord  is  bent  so  that  during  this  action  its  parts  always 
remain  in  the  same  plane,  a  development  of  space  in  two  dimen¬ 
sions  will  be  required  for  this  operation.  The  following  figure 
may  be  given  to  the  cord :  — 

(a - ^ - b) 

and  all  its  parts,  if  conceived  of  infinite  thinness,  may  be  con¬ 
sidered  so  lying  in  the  same  plane,  i.e.,  in  a  development  of  space 
in  two  dimensions.  If  the  flexible  cord,  without  being  broken, 
has  to  be  brought  back  into  the  former  figure’  of  a  straight  line,  in 
such  a  manner  that  during  this  operation  all  its  parts  remain  in 
the  same  plane,  this  can  only  be  effected  by  describing  with  one 
end  of  the  cord  a  circle  of  860°. 

For  beings  with  only  ftoo-dimeusional  perceptions  these  opera¬ 
tions  with  the  cord  would  correspond  to  what  wo,  with  our  three- 
dimensional  perception,  call  a  knot  to  the  cord.  Now  if  a  being, 


ON  SPACE  OF  FOUR  DIMENSIONS. 


35 


limited  on  account  of  its  bodily  organization  to  the  conception  of 
oidy  two  dimensions  of  space,  possessed,  nevertheless,  the  ability  of 
executing  by  his  will  operations  with  this  cord  which  are  only  pos¬ 
sible  in  the  space  of  three  dimensions,  such  a  being  would  be  able 
to  undo  this  two-dimensional  knot  in  a  much  simpler  way.  Merely 
the  turning  over  of  a  part  of  the  cord  would  be  required,  so  that 
after  the  operation,  when  all  parts  again  lie  in  the  same  plane,  the 
cord  would  have  passed  through  the  following  positions :  — 

__  _  n _  . - 

By  the  same  operations,  but  in  an  inverted  sense,  such  a  being 
would  be  able  again  to  form  the  knot  without  needing  that  circum¬ 
stantial  process,  during  which  all  parts  of  the  thread  have  to  re¬ 
main  in  the  fttfo-dimcnsional  space  of  perception. 

If  this  consideration,  by  way  of  analogy,  is  transferred  to  a  knot 
in  space  of  £Aree-dimensions,  it  will  easily  be  seen  that  the  tying 
as  well  as  the  untying  of  such  a  knot  can  only  be  effected  by 
operations,  during  which  the  parts  of  the  cord  describe  a  line  of 
double  curvature,  as  shown  by  this  figure  — 


We  three-dimensional  beings  can  only  tie  or  untie  such  a  knot 
by  moving  one  end  of  the  cord  through  300°  in  a  plane  which  is 
inclined  towards  that  other  plane  containing  the  two-dimensional 
part  of  the  knot.  But  if  there  were  beings  among  us  who  were 
able  to  produce  by  their  will  four-dimensional  movements  of  mate¬ 
rial  substances,  they  could  tic  and  untie  such  knots  in  a  much 
simpler  manner  by  an  operation  analogous  to  that  described  in 
relation  to  a  two-dimensional  knot. 

It  is  by  no  means  necessary — nay,  not  even  probable  —  that 
such  beings  should  have  a  contemplative  consciousness  of  these 
actions  of  their  will.  For  all  our  conceptions  in  relation  to  tlio 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


movements  of  our  limbs,  and  to  those  produced  by  their  means  in 
other  bodies,  have  been  acquired  by  us  solely  by  way  of  experi¬ 
ence.  Having  observed  from  childhood  that  a  voluntary  move¬ 
ment  of  our  limbs  is  always  connected  with  a  corresponding  change 
in  our  visional  impressions,  accompanying  the  action  of  our  will,  it 
is  only  in  this  way  that  we  are  now  able  to  connect  the  movements 
of  our  body  or  of  other  objects  with  a  corresponding  conception  of 
such  motion. 

Berkeley  demonstated  this  truth  in  the  year  1709,  in  his  Essay 
Towards  a  new  Theory  of  Vision  and  in  his  Principles  of  Human 
Knowledge.  In  the  last-mentioned  treatise  he  remarks,  on  the 
relation  of  our  visional  perceptions  to  the  sensations  of  touch :  — 

“  So  that  in  strict  truth  the  ideas  of  sight,  when  we  apprehend 
by  them  distance,  and  things  placed  at  a  distance,  do  not  suggest 
or  mark  out  to  us  things  actually  existing  at  a  distance  but  only 
admonish  us  what  ideas  of  touch  will  be  imprinted  in  our  minds 
at  such  and  such  distance  of  time,  and  in  consequence  of  such  or 
such  actions.” —  Berkeley,  Principles  of  Human  Knowledge  (Fra¬ 
ser’s  Edition,  vol.  i.,  p.  177.) 

Litchenberg,  in  1799,  expresses  himself  in  like  manner  when  he 
says:  — 

“  To  perceive  something  outside  ourselves  is  a  contradiction;  we 
perceive  only  within  us ;  that  which  we  perceive  is  merely  a  modi¬ 
fication  of  ourselves,  therefore,  within  us.  Because  these  modifica¬ 
tions  are  independent  of  ourselves,  we  seek  their  cause  in  other 
things  that  are  outside,  and  say  there  are  things  beyond  us.  We 
ought  to  say  ‘ preeter  nos;'  but  for  ‘ preeter'  we  substitute  the 
preposition  ‘ extra'  which  is  something  quite  different,  i.e.,  we 
imagine  these  things  in  the  space  outside  ourselves.  This  evi¬ 
dently  is  not  perception,  but  it  seems  to  be  something  firmly  inter¬ 
woven  with  the  nature  of  our  sensual  perceptive  powers;  it  is  the 
form  under  which  that  conception  of  the  ‘  preeter  nos '  is  given  to 
us, —  the  form  of  the  sensual.” 

The  want  of  these  conceptions  would  necessarily  be  felt  by  us, 
if  in  some  individuals,  and  these  only  occasionally,  the  will  should 


ON  SPACE  OF  FOUR  DIMENSIONS. 


37 


be  capable  of  producing  physical  movements,  for  whose  geometro- 
matheraatical  definition  a  four-dimensional  system  of  co-ordinates 
is  necessary. 

To  my  knowledge  Gauss  was  the  first  to  direct,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  “  Geometria  Situs,”  his  attention  to  the  tlicory  of 
the  twistings  of  flexible  cords.  In  his  manuscripts  left  behind 
(Gauss’  Werke,  vol.  v.,  p.  G05)  we  find  the  following  remarks:  — 

“  Of  the  Geometria  Situs  which  Leibnitz  foresaw,  and  on  which 
to  throw  a  feeble  glance  was  allowed  only  to  a  few  mathematicians 
(Euler  and  Vandermonde),  we,  after  a  lapse  of  150  years,  know 
and  possess  hardly  more  than  nothing.  One  of  the  principal  prob¬ 
lems  on  the  boundary  of  the  Geometria  Situs  and  the  Geometria 
Magnitudinis  will  be  to  calculate  the  number  of  the  twistings  of 
two  closed  and  endless  cords.” 

In  my  first  treatise,  On  Action  at  a  Distance ,  I  have  discussed 
in  detail  the  truth,  first  discovered  by  Kant,  later  by  Gauss  and 
the  representatives  of  the  anti-Euclidian  geometry,  viz.,  that  our 
present  conception  of  space,  familiar  to  us  by  habit,  has  been 
derived  from  experience,  i.e.,  from  empirical  facts  by  means  of  the 
causal  principle  existing  a  priori  in  our  intellect.  This  in  par¬ 
ticular  is  to  be  said  of  the  three  dimensions  of  our  present  concep¬ 
tion  of  space.  If  from  our  childhood  phenomena  had  been  of 
daily  occurrence,  requiring  a  space  of  four  or  more  dimensions  for 
an  explanation  which  should  be  free  from  contradiction,  i.e.,  con¬ 
formable  to  reason,  we  should  be  able  to  form  a  conception  of  space 
of  four  or  more  dimensions.  It  follows  that  the  real  existence  of  a 
four-dimensional  space  can  only  be  decided  by  experience ,  i.e.,  by 
observation  of  facts. 

A  great  step  has  been  made  by  acknowledging  that  the  possibility 
of  a  four-dimensional  development  of  space  can  be  understood  by 
our  intellect,  although,  on  account  of  reasons  previously  given,  no 
corresponding  image  of  it  can  be  conceived  by  the  mind.  (Dass 
die  moeglichkeit  cincs  vierdiinensionalen  Raumgebietes  bctjrijflich 
olmc  Widerspruch  denlcbar,  wenn  auch  nicht  anschaulick  vorstell- 
bar  ist.) 


38 


TRANSCENDENTAL  rnYSXCS. 


But  Kant  advances  one  step  farther.  From  the  logically  recog¬ 
nized  possibility  of  the  existence  of  space  having  more  than  three 
dimensions,  he  infers  their  “very  probably  real  existence”  when 
he  verbally  remarks :  — 

“If  It  is  possible  that  there  be  developments  of  other  dimen¬ 
sions  in  space,  it  is  also  very  probable  that  God  has  somewhere 
produced  them.  For  His  works  have  all  the  grandeur  and  variety 
that  can  possibly  be  comprised.” 

“In  the  foregoing  I  have  shown  that  several  worlds,  taken  in  a 
metaphysical  sense,  might  exist  together,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
here  is  the  condition,  which,  according  to  my  belief,  is  the  only 
one  which  makes  it  probable  that  several  such  worlds  really  exist .” 
—  (Kant’s  Works,  vol.  v.,  p.  25.) 

I  may  further  cite  the  following  observations  of  Kant:  — 

“I  confess  I  am  much  inclined  to  assert  the  existence  of  imma¬ 
terial  beings  in  this  world,  and  to  class  my  soul  itself  in  the  cate¬ 
gory  of  these  beings.” 

“We  can  imagine  the  possibility  of  the  existence  of  immaterial 
beings  without  the  fear  of  being:  refuted,  though,  at  the  same  time, 
without  the  hope  of  being  able  to  demonstrate  their  existence  by 
reason.  Such  spiritual  beings  would  exist  in  space,  and  the  latter 
notwithstanding  would  remain  penetrable  for  material  beings, 
because  their  presence  would  imply  an  acting  power  in  space,  but 
not  a  jiUing  of  it,  i.e.,  a  resistance  causing  solidity.” 

“It  is,  therefore,  as  good  as  demonstrated,  or  it  could  easily  be 
proved,  if  we  were  to  enter  into  it  at  some  length ;  or,  better  still, 
it  will  be  proved  in  the  f  uture  —  I  do  not  know  where  and  when  — 
that  also  in  this  life  the  human  soul  stands  in  an  indissoluble  com¬ 
munion  with  all  the  immaterial  beings  of  the  spiritual  world ;  that 
it  produces  effects  in  them ,  and  in  exchange  receives  impressions 
from  them,  without,  however,  becoming  humanly  conscious  of  them 
so  long  as  all  stands  welir 

“  It  would  be  a  blessing  if  such  a  systematic  constitution  of  the 
spiritual  world,  as  conceived  by  us,  had  not  merely  to  be  inferred 
from  the — too  hypothetical  —  conception  of  the  spiritual  nature 


Plate  I. 


EXPERIMENTAL  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


41 


generally,  but  would  be  inferred,  or  at  least  conjectured,  as  prob¬ 
able  from  some  real  and  generally  acknowledged  observation .” — 
(Kant’s  Works,  vol.  vii.,  p.  32.) 

I  have  already  in  the  above-cited  treatise  discussed  some  phys¬ 
ical  phenomena,  which  must  be  possible  for  such  four-dimensional 
beings,  provided  that  under  certain  circumstances  they  are  enabled 
to  produce  effects  in  the  real  material  world  that  would  be  visible, 
i.e.,  conceivable  to  us  three-dimensional  beings.  As  one  of  these 
effects,  I  discussed  at  some  length  the  knotting  of  a  single  endless 
cord.  If  a  single  cord  has  its  ends  tied  together  and  sealed,  an 
intelligent  being,  having  the  power  voluntarily  to  produce  ou  this 
cord  four-dimensional  bendings  and  movements,  must  be  able,  with¬ 
out  loosening  the  seal,  to  tie  one  or  more  knots  in  tills  endless 
cord. 

Now,  this  experiment  has  been  successfully  made  within  the 
space  of  a  few  minutes  in  Leipzig,  on  the  17th  of  December,  1877, 
at  11  o’clock  a.m.,  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Henry  Slade,  the 
American.  The  accompanying  engraving  (Plate  I.)  shows  the 
strong  cord  with  the  four  knots*  in  it,  as  well  as  the  position  of 
my  hands,  to  which  Mr.  Slade’s  left  hand  and  that  of  another  gen¬ 
tleman  were  joined.  While  the  teal  always  remained  in  our  sight 
on  the  table,  the  unknotted  cord  was  firmly  pressed  by  my  two 
thumbs  against  the  table’s  surface,  and  the  remainder  of  the  cord 
hung  down  in  my  lap.  I  had  desired  the  tying  of  only  one  knot, 
yet  the  four  knots — minutely  represented  on  the  drawing  —  were 
formed,  after  a  few  minutes,  iu  the  cord. 

The  hempen  cord  had  a  thickness  of  about  1  millimetre ;  it  was 
strong  and  new,  having  been  bought  by  myself.  Its  single  length, 
before  the  tying  of  the  knots,  was  about  148  centimetres;  the 
length  therefore  of  the  double  string,  the  ends  having  been  joined, 
about  74  centims.  The  ends  were  tied  together  in  an  ordinary 
knot,  and  then —  protruding  from  the  knot  by  about  1.5  centims. — 


•In  tho  enlarged  drawings  the  knots  have  been  represented  by  mistake  sym¬ 
metrical;  they  were  tied  on  one  side,  in  accordance  with  the  small  liguro  of  tho 

cord. 


42 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


wove  laid  on  a  piece  of  paper  and  sealed  to  the  same  witli  ordi¬ 
nary  sealing-wax,  so  that  the  knot  just  remained  visible  at  the  bor¬ 
der  of  the  seal.  The  paper  round  the  seal  was  then  cut  off,  as 
shown  in  the  illustration. 

The  above-described  sealing  of  two  such  strings,  with  my  own 
seal  was  effo  ted  by  myself  in  my  apartments,  on  the  evening  of 
December  16th,  1877,  at  9  o’clock,  under  the  eyes  of  several  of 
my  friends  and  colleagues,  and  not  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Slade. 
Two  other  strings  of  the  same  quality  and  dimensions  were  sealed 
by  Wilhelm  Weber  with  his  seal,  and  in  his  own  rooms,  on  the 
morning  of  the  17th  of  December,  at  10.30  a.m.  With  these  four 
cords  I  went  to  the  neighboring  dwelling  of  one  of  my  friends, 
who  had  offered  to  Mr.  Henry  Slade  the  hospitalities  of  his  house, 
so  as  to  place  him  exclusively  at  my  own  and  my  friend’s  disposi¬ 
tion,  and  for  the  time  withdrawing  him  from  the  public.  The 
seance  in  question  took  place  in  my  friend’s  sitting-room  immedi¬ 
ately  after  my  arrival.  I  myself  selected  one  of  the  four  sealed 
cords,  and,  in  order  never  to  lose  sight  of  it  before  we  sat  down 
at  the  table,  I  hung  it  around  my  neck, — the  seal  in  front  always 
within  my  sight.  During  the  seance,  as  previously  stated,  I  con¬ 
stantly  kept  the  seal  —  remaining  unaltered  —  before  me  on  the 
table.  Mr.  Slade’s  hands  remained  all  the  time  in  sight;  with  the 
left  he  often  touched  his  forehead,  complaining  of  painful  sensa¬ 
tions.  The  portion  of  the  string  hanging  rested  on  my  lap, —  out 
of  my  sight,  it  is  true, —  but  Mr.  Slade’s  hands  always  remained 
visible  to  me.  I  particularly  noticed  that  Mr.  Slade’s  hands  were 
not  withdrawn  or  changed  in  position.  He  himself  appeared  to  be 
perfectly  passive,  so  that  we  cannot  advance  the  assertion  of  his 
having  tied  those  knots  by  his  conscious  will,  but  only  that  they, 
under  these  detailed  circumstances,  were  formed  in  his  presence 
without  visible  contact,  and  in  a  room  illuminated  by  bright  day¬ 
light. 

According  to  the  reports  so  far  published,  the  above  experiment 
seems  also  to  have  succeeded  in  Vienna  in  presence  of  Mr.  Slade, 


OBJECTIVE  AND  SUBJECTIVE. 


43 


although  under  less  stringent  conditions.*  Those  of  my  readers 
who  wish  for  farther  information  on  other  physical  phenomena 
which  have  taken  place  in  Mr.  Slade’s  presence,  I  refer  to  these 
two  books.  I  reserve  to  later  publication,  in  my  own  treatises, 
the  description  of  further  experiments  obtained  by  me  in  twelve 
seances  with  Mr.  Slade,  and,  as  I  am  expressly  authorized  to  men¬ 
tion,  in  the  presence  of  my  friends  and  colleagues,  Professor  Fech- 
ner,  Professor  Wilhelm  Weber,  the  celebrated  electrician  from 
Gottingen,  and  Ilerr  Seheibner,  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the 
University  of  Leipzig,  who  are  perfectly  convinced  of  the  reality 
of  the  observed  facts,  altogether  excluding  imposture  or  prestidigi¬ 
tation. 

At  the  end  of  my  first  treatise,  already  finished  in  manuscript 
in  the  course  of  August,  1877,  I  called  attention  to  the  circum¬ 
stance  that  a  certain  number  of  physical  phenomena,  which,  by 
“  synthetical  conclusions  a  priori ,”  might  be  explained  through 
the  generalized  conception  of  space  and  the  platonic  hypothesis  of 
projection,  coincided  with  so-called  spiritualistic  phenomena.  Cau¬ 
tiously,  however,  I  said :  — 

“  To  those  of  my  readers  who  are  inclined  to  see  in  spiritual¬ 
istic  phenomena  an  empirical  confirmation  of  those  phenomena 
above  deduced  in  regard  to  their  theoretical  possibility,  I  beg  to 
observe  that  from  the  point  of  view  of  idealism  there  must  first  be 
given  a  precise  definition  and  criticism  of  objective  reality.  Indeed, 
if  everything  perceivable  is  a  conception  produced  in  us  by 
unknown  causes,  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  objective 
reality  from  the  subjective  reality  (phantasma)  cannot  be  sought 
in  nature,  but  only  in  accidental  attributes  of  that  process,  produc¬ 
ing  conceptions.  If  causes  unknown  to  us  produce  simultaneously 
in  several  individuals  the  same  conception,  only  subject  to  those 
distinctions  which  depend  upon  differences  in  the  position  of  the 


•Mr.  Slade’s  "Aufenthalt  in  Wien:  Ein  oifoner  Brief  an  meine  Freundp.” 
IVien:  I.  C.  Fischer  &  Co.,  1878.  “Dor  Indmdualismus  in  Lichte  der  15IoIogie 
und  Pliilosophie  der  Gegenwart  von  Lazar  15.  Hollenbach.”  Wien:  BrauiuiiUer, 


44 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


observers,  we  refer  such  conception  to  a  real  object  outside  of  us ; 
this  conception  not  taking  place,  we  refer  that  conception  to 
causes  within  us,  and  call  it  hallucination. 

“  Now,  whether  the  spiritualistic  phenomena  belong  to  the  first 
or  to  the  second  category  of  these  conceptions,  I  do  not  venture  to 
decide,  so  far  never  having  witnessed  such  phenomena.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  do  not  possess,  with  regard  to  men  like  Crookes, 
Wallace,  and  others,  such  an  exalted  opinion  of  my  own  intellect, 
as  to  believe  that  I  myself,  under  similar  conditions,  should  not 
be  subject  to  the  same  impressions.”  (Written  in  August,  1877.) 

This  supposition  received,  four  months  after  my  writing  it  down, 
a  full  confirmation  by  the  above-mentioned  experiments  with  the 
American,  Mr.  Henry  Slade.  In  making  them  I  was  intent  upon 
giving  full  consideration  to  the  above-cited  distinction  between  a 
subjective  phantasma  and  an  objective  fact.  The  four  knots  in 
the  above-mentioned  cord,  with  the  seal  unbroken,  this  day  still  lie 
before  me  ;  I  can  send  this  cord  to  any  man  for  examination;  I 
might  send  it  by  turn  to  all  the  learned  societies  of  the  world,  so 
as  to  convince  them  that  not  a  subjective  phantasma  is  here  in 
question,  but  an  objective  and  lasting  effect  produced  in  the  mate¬ 
rial  world,  which  no  human  intelligence,  with  the  conceptions  of 
space  so  far  current,  is  able  to  explain. 

If,  nevertheless,  the  foundation  of  this  fact,  deduced  by  me  on 
the  ground  of  an  enlarged  conception  of  space,  should  be  denied, 
only  one  other  kind  of  explanation  would  remain,  arising  from  a 
moral  mode  of  consideration  that  at  present,  it  is  true,  is  quite  cus¬ 
tomary.  This  explanation  would  consist  in  the  presumption  that 
I  myself  and  the  honorable  men  and  citizens  of  Leipzig,  in  whoso 
presence  several  of  these  cords  were  sealed,  were  either  common 
impostors,  or  wrere  not  in  possession  of  our  sound  senses  sufficient 
to  perceive  if  Mr.  Slade  himself,  before  the  cords  were  sealed,  had 
tied  them  in  knots.  The  discussion,  however,  of  such  a  hypothe¬ 
sis  would  no  longer  belong  to  the  dominion  of  science,  but  would 
fall  under  the  category  of  social  decency. 

Some  other  still  more  surprising  experiments  —  prepared  by  me 


SLACK  AND  1IIS  ACCUSKltS. 


45 


with  a  view  to  further  testing  this  theory  of  space  —  have  suc¬ 
ceeded,  though  Mr.  Slade  thought  their  success  impossible.  The 
sympathizing  and  intelligent  reader  will  be  able  to  understand  my 
delight  caused  thereby.  Mr.  Slade  produced  on  me  and  on  my 
friends  the  impression  of  his  being  a  gentleman :  the  sentence  for 
imposture  pronounced  against  him  in  London  necessarily  excited 
our  moral  sympathy,  for  the  physical  facts  observed  by  us  in  so 
astonishing  a  variety  in  his  presence,  negatived  on  every  reason¬ 
able  ground  the  supposition  that  he  in  one  solitary  case  had  taken 
refuge  in  willful  imposture.  Mr.  Slade,  in  our  eyes,  therefore,  was 
innocently  condemned, —  a  victim  of  his  accuser's  and  his  judge’s 
limited  knowledge. 


CHAPTER  SECOND. 


MAGNETIC  EXPERIMENTS.—  PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA.— SLATE-WRITING  UNDER 
TEST  CONDITIONS. 

The  facts  testified  to  l>y  Mr.  Wallace  and  oilier  well-known 
Englishmen,  as  observed  by  them  in  the  presence  of  Slade,  I  can 
fully  confirm  on  the  ground  of  an  investigation  of  more  than  eight 
days  with  the  latter  in  my  own  house.  As  witnesses  of  the  phe¬ 
nomena  then  observed,  and  about  to  be  particularly  described,  I 
am  expressly  authorized  to  cite  my  friends  Professor  Eechner,  Pro¬ 
fessor  Wilhelm  Weber,  and  Professor  W.  Scheibner. 

On  the  15th  November,  1877,  at  five  o’clock  in  the  afternoon, 
Slade  came  to  Leipzig  for  the  first  time,  and  took  a  room  in  the 
Palmtree  Hotel  (Polmbcium) ,  which  had  been  ordered  for  him  by 
two  of  my  friends,  at  whose  invitation  he  had  come  here  from  Ber¬ 
lin.  Although  I  was  not  a  stranger  to  the  literature  of  Spiritual¬ 
ism,  I  had  hitherto  declined  to  occupy  myself  personally  with  its 
asserted  phenomena,  because,  in  the  first  place,  I  was  quite  satis¬ 
fied  to  leave  these  for  the  present  in  the  hands  of  two  such  excel¬ 
lent  and  unprejudiced  observers  as  Crookes  and  Wallace;  and, 
secondly,  because  my  time  was  already  fully  occupied  with  my 
physical  researches.  Still,  I  had  no  reason  for  refusing  the  request 
of  my  friends  to  use  so  convenient  an  opportunity  as  the  present, 
and  at  least  to  have  a  look  at  Slade.  I  therefore  accompanied  my 
two  friends  on  a  visit  to  him  on  the  evening  of  his  arrival,  without 
the  least  intention,  however,  of  taking  part  in  a  sitting,  or  even  of 
arranging;  one. 

O  O 

(46) 


slade’s  first  visit  to  Leipzig. 


47 


Slade  came  along  to  Leipzig.  lie  bad  left  bis  neiee  (tbe 
daughter  of  .  his  deceased  wife’s  sister)  as  well  as  bis  secretary, 
Mr.  Simmons,  and  bis  daughter  —  which  three  persons  accom¬ 
panied  him  on  his  travels  —  in  Berlin,  at  the  Hotel  Kronprinz; 
these  persons,  are,  therefore,  wholly  unknown  to  me. 

The  personal  impression  which  Slade  made  upon  me  was  a 
favorable  one.  Ills  demeanor  was  modest  and  reserved,  and  his 
conversation  (he  spoke  only  English)  was  quiet  and  discreet.  The 
conversation  soon  turned  upon  Lankcster’s  accusation,  and  his 
manner  and  language  indicated  moral  indignation  at  the  proceed¬ 
ings  against  him  in  England.  To  change  the  subject,  I  asked  him 
whether  he  had  ever  tried  to  influence  a  magnetic  needle,  for  I 
remembered  that  Professor  Fechncr  had  observed  a  similar  phe¬ 
nomena  with  Erdmann,  late  professor  of  chemistry  at  the  Leipzig 
University,  in  the  presence  of  a  certain  Madame  Ruf,  a  sensitive 
whom  Reicheuback  had  introduced  to  those  gentlemen. 

To  give  my  readers  here  the  interesting  result  of  that  investiga¬ 
tion,  the  following  is  quoted  from  Fcchner’s  small  pamphlet, 
“Recollections  of  the  Last  Days  of  ' the  Science  of  Od  and  its 
Authors,”  which  appeared  two  years  ago  (Leipzig:  Brcitkopf- & 
Ilartel;  187G),  under  the  heading,  “Experiments  with  Madame 
Ruf.” 

Fechners  Magnetic  Experiments  with  a  Sensitive. 

“Saturday,  4th  July,  18G7. —  Early  to-day  Herr  von  Reich- 
enbacli  surprised  me  with  a  visit.  To  my  repeated  refusal  by  let¬ 
ter  to  join  in  his  experiments,  after  I  had  been  unable  to  obtain  a 
commission  from  my  colleagues  to  examine  the  same,  and  the 
experiment  with  the  pendulum  had  come  to  nothing,  he  had  replied 
that  lie  would  come  notwithstanding,  and  would  even  bring  with 
him  a  sensitive  to  show  me  the  experiments,  without  claiming  from 
me  a  public  judgment  upon  them,  naturally  presuming  that  I 
would  not  avoid  giving  it  if  called  upon  by  him  for  it,  supposing 
only  that  1  had  at  lirst  convinced  myself. 


48 


TRANSCENDENTAL  niYSICS.' 


“I  received  him  very  coldly,  explained  to  him  again  that  I  had 
desired  to  abstain  from  a  participation  in  his  experiments,  of  which 
nothing  would  come  even  for  himself:  but  as  he  was  there,  I  went 
with  him  to  his  hotel,  where  he  introduced  to  me  his  sensitive,  a 
large  but  rather  lean  woman,  between  forty  and  fifty  years  old, 
who  might  once  have  been  handsome ;  and  I  saw  a  table  on  which 
he  had  laid  out  all  possible  preparations, —  magnets,  sulphur  and 
metals  melted  down  in  pipes,  a  raw  and  a  boiled  egg,  and  so  forth, 
as  far  as  I  knew. 

“The  sensitive  explained  that  she  was  not  quite  well,  and  her 
sensibility  was  not  very  highly  developed  this  day. 

“  An  experiment  which  Reichenbach  himself  conducted,  while  I 
was  with  him  at  the  hotel,  surprised  me,  and  I  did  not  know  what 
to  make  of  it.  A  common  box-compass,  with  a  needle  some  inches 
long,  under  glass,  was  placed  on  the  table.  He  caused  the  sensi¬ 
tive  to  move  a  finger  to  and  fro  before  one  of  the  poles  (not  over 
the  glass,  but  in  front  of  the  case),  and  thereby  the  needle  began 
to  oscillate,  as  if  an  iron  or  magnetic  rod  had  been  similarly  passed 
before  the  same  pole.  These  oscillations  were  not  inconsiderable, 
and  the  experiment  succeeded  with  each  repetition,  even  when 
Reichenbach  was  in  other  parts  of  the  room,  and  also  when  the  fin¬ 
ger  alternately  approached  and  removed  from  the  pole.  Trying 
the  experiment  in  like  manner,  myself,  the  needle  remained  quite 
motionless.  Reichenbach  said  the  phenomenon  was  weak  that 
day;  at  times  the  sensitive  had  drawn  the  magnetic  needle  com¬ 
pletely  round.  I  examined  the  finger  in  its  extent  and  under  the 
nails  as  closely  as  possible,  caused  the  arm  to  be  bared  above 
the  elbow,  in  order  to  discover  any  iron  or  puncture  through  which 
needles  could  be  passed  under  the  skin;  in  vain.  However,  I 
reserved  myself  for  re-examination  of  this  experiment. 

“July  13th. —  Since  the  last  experiments,  the  sensitive  had  fal¬ 
len  into  such  a  condition  of  insensibility  that  Reichenbach,  as  he 
wrote  me,  could  stick  needles  down  to  the  blood  in  her  limbs 
without  her  feeling  anything.  Early  to-day  he  came  to  me,  and 
said  that  his  sensitive  was  not  sufficiently  recovered  for  a  repeti- 


PROFESSOR  FECHNEr’s  EXPERIMENTS. 


4!) 


tion  of  the  experiments  with  the  horse-shoe,  bar-magnet,  or  pen¬ 
dulum  ;  hut  the  deviation  of  the  magnetic  needle,  which  had  ceased 
during  her  state  of  insensibility,  again  succeeded;  and  lie  begged 
me  to  satisfy  myself  of  it  immediately,  as  he  was  not  sure  of  the 
continuance  of  the  existing  conditions.  So  I  went  with  him.  The 
magnetic  experiments,  to  which  I  confined  myself,  were  so  success¬ 
ful,  that  my  understanding,  so  to  speak,  was  in  suspense,  notwith¬ 
standing  I  endeavored  to  exclude  all  posssible  means  of  decep¬ 
tion. 

“In  the  foregoing  experiments,  the  sensitive  had  sat  in  front  of 
the  magnetic  needle;  this  time  I  made  her  sit  at  the  side.  If  the 
sensitive  had  had  a  magnet  under  her  clothes,  a  suspicion  which 
could  be  entertained  and  was  all  the  more  to  be  reckoned  with, 
as  it  had  been  very  seriously  suggested  from  highly  respectable 
quarters,  this  would  have  established  quite  different  conditions  of 
motion  of  the  needle  from  the  former,  and  rendered  generally 
impossible  the  regular  phenomena  which  I  observed:  and  even 
without  the  pointing  of  the  linger  must  of  itself  have  produced 
irregularities  in  the  motion  of  the  needle, —  nothing  of  which  hap¬ 
pened.  Such  a  suspicion  after  this  could  not  be  maintained.  I 
throughout  examined  whether  the  motion  of  the  magnetic  needle 
indicated  attraction  or  repulsion,  and  it  generally  appeared  that 
whatever  part  of  the  left  or  right  hand  or  of  the  arm  was  applied, 
the  south  pole  of  the  needle  was  repelled,  the  north  pole  was 
attracted;  notwithstanding  lieichenbach,  who  appears  to  have 
instituted  the  experiment  with  the  magnetic  influence  quite  super¬ 
ficially  to  my  question,  whether  the  polar  characteristics  were  dis¬ 
tributed  to  the  right  and  left  respectively,  so  that  the  one  attracted 
what  the  other  repelled,  equilibrium  resulting  from  their  joint 
action,  had  replied  that  would  indisputably  so  appear;  whereas,  in 
fact,  right  and  left  were  quite  alike  in  tiiis  respect,  only  the  left 
seemed  to  act  more  strongly  than  the  right.  A  proof,  at  any  rate, 
that  lieichenbach  himself  had  nothing  to  do  with  any  trick;  the 
phenomenon  contradicting  his  theory,  and  he  being  unable  to  give 
any  definite  explanation  of  it.  lieichenbach  stood  throughout  so 


50 


TRANSCENDENT  AT.  physics. 


quietly  and  at  such  a  distance  that  there  was  nothing  to  guard 
against  from  him ;  and  as  to  the  sensitive,  I  never  remarked  a 
motion  of  the  body  to  support  the  suspicion  that  she  had  a  magnet 
under  her  clothes,  by  the  motion  of  which  the  results  were  brought 
about.  Moreover,  I  frequently  made  her  try  the  experiment  only 
with  the  finger,  expressly  bidding  her  keep  her  whole  body  at  the 
same  time  as  quiet  as  possible ;  nor  could  I,  with  the  closest  atten¬ 
tion,  perceive  that  she  disobeyed  me. 

“  After  all,  one  cannot  suppose  that  the  woman  had  stuck  need¬ 
les  under  the  skin  in  all  her  fingers,  and  up  to  the  elbow ;  and, 
moreover,  only  magnetic  needles,  and  these  everywhere  with  a  like 
direction  of  the  pole.  Again,  as  to  the  suspicion  that  she  con¬ 
trived  the  magnetic  phenomena  of  the  needle  by  the  motion  of  a 
magnet  under  the  clothes,  that  is  entirely  excluded,  for  the  reason 
that  the  increase  or  disturbance  of  the  oscillations  of  the  needle, 
according  to  the  approximation  or  removal  of  the  finger  (with  the 
principle  of  which  act  the  sensitive  was  unacquainted,  Iteiehen- 
bach  himself  not  knowing  the  right  application),  were  exactly  such 
as  they  must  have  been  supposing  a  magnetic  property  in  the  fin¬ 
ger  ;  a  result  which  could  not  have  been  produced  1  ;y  art,  even  if 
the  sensitive  had  known  the  principle. 

“July  14th. —  At  eleven  o’clock  this  morning  I  repeated  the 
experiment  with  the  magnetic  needle,  in  company  with  Professor 
Erdmann,  whom  I  had  in  the  meanwhile  been  able  to  induce  to 
take  part  in  it.  It  resulted  as  before,  and  Professor  Erdmann  was 
impressed  as  well  as  myself.  Any  means  of  deception  could  be 
discovered  to-day  as  little  as  on  former  occasions.  I  had  before 
asked  the  sensitive  whether  she  had  not  iron  about  her,  and  she  had 
said  she  had  not,  but  neither  she  nor  I  had  then  thought  of  her 
crinoline ;  to-day,  however,  she  mentioned  of  her  own  accord  that 
the  experiment  succeeded  just  as  well  without  the  crinoline  as  with 
it,  and  offered,  as  she  then  had  it  on,  to  take  it  off,  which  she  did 
in  the  room.  And  in  fact,  the  experiment  was  as  completely  suc¬ 
cessful  as  before.  Moreover,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  the 
earlier-described,  results,  cvcu  if  possibly  iniiueucod  by  the  crino- 


professor  feciiner  s  experiments. 


r»  1 

line,  would  much  rather  have  been  disturbed  in  their  regularity 
than  induced  by  it.  In  addition,  Reichenbach  declared  that  lie 
was  ready  to  let  the  experiment  be  undertaken  by  ladies  whom  we 
might  appoint,  the  sensitive  being  wholly  divested  of  her  clothes. 

“ Postscript . —  The  following  day  the  woman  became  so  ill  that 
Reichenbach  was  obliged  to  send  her  back ;  and  even  later  on  she 
was  not  fit  for  the  experiments.  At  her  second  visit  here  I  recom¬ 
mended  her,  if  the  magnetic  power  returned  to  her,  to  introduce 
herself  to  some  physicist  or  physiologist  by  profession,  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  experimentation,  and  she  might  thus  become  a  celebrated 
person ;  but  I  have  heard  nothing  more  of  her. 

“  Yet  are  the  magnetic  results  obtained  with  Madame  Ruf  gen¬ 
erally  so  novel  ( unerwartet )  that,  with  regard  to  the  hitherto 
proved  impossibility  of  reproducing  them  with  others,  every  doubt 
of  their  genuine  character  must  be  permitted.  Was  there  actually 
no  deception  in  them?  That  Reicheubach  himself  was  incapable 
of  willful  deception  every  one  will  admit  who,  from  personal  inter¬ 
course  with  him,  or  from  reading  his  writings,  knows  that  lie  was 
much  too  possessed  with  the  reality  of  the  facts  adduced  by  him  to 
hold  it  necessary  to  resort  to  any  artifices  in  support  of  their  credi¬ 
bility;  and  that  even  the  sensitive  herself  was  not  intentionally 
deceiving  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  she  throughout  pre¬ 
sented  herself  only  as  a  passive  instrument  of  Reichenbach  in  the 
experiments,  and  manifested  rather  a  passive  than  an  active  inter¬ 
est  in  them,  as  appears  from  the  above  accounts.  Rut  even  should 
the  intention  to  deceive  be  presupposed  cither  in  him  or  her,  I  am 
absolutely  at  a  loss  how  such  deception  could  have  held  out 
against  the  altered  conditions  of  the  experiments,  as  I  have 
described  them.  Could  the  experiments  have  been  continued, 
doubtless  yet  other  means  of  control  would  have  been  instituted ; 
but  at  least ,  for  my  own  part,  1  confess  myself  convinced,  already 
by  that  which  I  have  been  able  to  communicate  hereupon.  It 
may  lie  thought  an  hallucination  on  my  part,  and  indeed  I  asked 
myself  repeatedly  whether  I  saw  rightly;  but  Professor  Erdmann, 


5  2 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSIOS. 


whom  unfortunately,  since  his  departure,  I  can  no  longer  call  as  a 
witness,  must  have  shared  it  likewise.” 

The  above  fact,  established  by  two  well-known  reliable  wit¬ 
nesses  (Professor  Fechnor  and  Professor  Erdmann),  of  an  influ¬ 
ence  exercised  by  a  human  being  upon  a  magnetic  needle,  is  so 
remarkable,  and  stands  so  wholly  outside  our  ordinary  experience, 
that  it  must  be  a  matter  of  the  highest  interest  to  cveiy  true  inves¬ 
tigator  of  nature  to  be  able  to  confirm  and  repeat  this  fact  with 
another  individual.  I  therefore  put  the  question  to  Mr.  Slade, 
whether  he  experienced  anything  similar  in  himself.  Slade 
answered  me  that  last  Sunday  (11th  November,  1877)  he  had 
been  examined  as  to  this  peculiarity  by  a  Berlin  professor  (whose 
name  he  did  not  remember),  and  on  that  occasion,  the  power 
which  he  did  not  know  himself  to  possess,  of  diverting  a  magnetic 
needle  and  putting  it  in  lively  oscillation,  had  manifested  itself. 
This  account  first  awakened  in  me  the  desire  to  experiment  with 
Mr.  Slade  in  like  manner  as  Fcchncr  had  douc  ten  years  before 
with  the  above-mentioned  Madame  Tluf. 

As  I  was  expecting  Fecbncr  and  Wilhelm  Weber  on  the  follow¬ 
ing  evening  (Friday,  lGth  November)  at  a  small  party  of  friends 
who  assembled  every  week  at  my  house,  I  invited  Mr.  Slade  to 
come  and  take  a  cup  of  tea  with  us.  I  explained  to  him  that  we 
should  be  quite  satisfied  if  he  could  produce  nothing  but  the  diver¬ 
gence  of  a  magnetic  needle  under  conditions  that  would  preclude  all 
notion  of  suspicion  even  for  the  most  distant  bystanders.  Slade 
accepted  my  invitation,  and  was  even  ready  to  come  at  once  to  my 
house  in  company  with  one  of  my  friends.  I  wished  to  make  sure 
of  the  experiment  that  evening,  in  order  to  guarantee  its  success 
the  following  day  in  the  presence  of  my  friends.  This  intention  I 
of  course  did  not  intimate  to  Slade. 

Arrived  at  my  dwelling,  my  friend  asked  whether  I  had  a  com¬ 
pass  at  hand.  I  brought  a  celestial  globe  in  the  stand  of  which  a 
compass  was  fixed,  and  placed  it  on  the  table.  At  our  request 
Slade  moved  his  hand  horizontally  across  the  closely-fitted  glass 
cover  of  the  magnet  case.  The  needle  remained  immovable,  and 


PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS. 


53 


I  concluded  from  this  that  Slade  had  no  magnet  concealed 
beneath  his  skin.  On  a  second  trial,  which  was  made  immedi¬ 
ately  afterwards,  in  the  manner  stated,  the  needle  was  violently 
agitated  in  a  way  which  could  only  be  the  result  of  strong  mag¬ 
netic  power. 

This  observation  decided  my  position  towards  Mr.  Slade.  I 
had  hero  to  do  with  a  fact  which  confirmed  the  observation  of 
Fechner,  and  was,  therefore,  worthy  of  further  investigation. 

The  next  evening  (Friday,  November  16th,  1877)  I  placed  a 
card-table,  with  four  chairs,  in  a  room  which  Slade  had  not  yet 
entered.  After  Fechuer,  Professor  Braunc,  Slade,  and  myself 
were  seated,  and  had  placed  our  interlinked  hands  upon  the  table, 
there  were  raps  on  the  table.  Two  hours  previously  I  had  bought 
a  slate  and  marked  it ;  on  this  the  writing  began  in  the  usual  man¬ 
ner.  My  pocket-knife,  which  I  had  lent  to  Slade  to  cut  oft'  a 
fragment  of  pencil,  was  laid  upon  the  slate,  and  while  Slade  was 
placing  the  slate  partially  under  the  flap  of  the  table,  the  knife 
was  suddenly  projected  to  the  height  of  one  foot,  and  then  thrown 
down  upon  the  table,  but,  to  our  extreme  surprise,  was  open.  The 
experiment  was  several  times  repeated  with  like  result,  and  for  proof 
that  the  knife  was  not  projected  by  any  movement  of  the  slate, 
Slade  laid  at  the  same  time  as  the  knife  a  bit  of  slate-pencil  on  the 
slate,  and,  to  fix  its  position,  made  a  small  cross  on  the  place. 
Immediately  after  the  knife  had  been  projected,  Slade  showed  us 
the  slate,  on  which  the  bit  of  pencil  remained  unmoved  near  the 
mark. 

The  double  slate,  after  being  well  cleaned  and  a  piece  of  pencil 
placed  in  it,  was  then  held  by  Slade  over  the  head  of  Professor 
Braune.  The  scratching  was  soon  heard,  and  when  the  slate  was 
opened,  a  long  piece  of  writing  was  found  upon  it. 

While  this  was  going  on,  a  bed  which  stood  in  the  room  behind 
a  screen  suddenly  moved  about  two  feet  from  the  wall,  pushing  the 
screen  outwards.  Slade  was  more  than  four  feet  distant  from  the 
bed,  had  his  back  turned  towards  it,  and  his  legs  crossed,  always 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PIIYSTCS. 


54 

_  visible,  and  towards  the  side  away  from  the  bed.  I  then  returned 
the  bed  to  its  original  place. 

A  second  sitting  took  place  immediately  with  Professor  Weber, 
Scheibner,  and  myself.  While  experiments  similar  to  those  first 
described  were  being  successfully  made,  a  violent  crack  was  sud¬ 
denly  heard,  as  in  the  discharging  of  a  large  battery  of  Leyden 
jars.  Ou  turning,  with  some  alarm,  in  the  direction  of  the  sound, 
the  before-mentioned  screen  fell  apart  in  two  pieces.  The  strong 
wooden  screws,  half  an  inch  thick,  were  torn  from  above  and  be¬ 
low,  without  any  visible  contact  of  Slade  with  the  screen.  The 
parts  broken  were  at  least  five  feet  removed  from  Slade,  who  had 
his  back  to  the  screen;  but  even  if  he  had  intended  to  tear  it 
down  by  a  cleverly-devised  sideward  motion,  it  would  have  been 
necessary  to  fasten  it  on  the  opposite  side.  As  it  was,  the  screen 
stood  quite  unattached,  and  the  grain  of  the  wood  being  parallel 
to  the  axis  of  the  cylindrical  wooden  fastenings,  the  wrenching 
asunder  could  only  be  accomplished  by  a  force  acting  longitudi¬ 
nally  to  the  part  in  question.  We  were  all  astonished  at  this 
unexpected  and  violent  manifestation  of  mechanical  force,  and 
asked  Slade  what  it  all  meant ;  but  he  only  shrugged  his  shoulders, 
saying  that  such  phenomena  occasionally,  though  somewhat  rarely, 
occurred  in  his  presence.  As  he  spoke,  he  placed,  while  still  stand¬ 
ing,  a  piece  of  slate-pencil  on  the  polished  surface  of  the  table,  laid 
over  it  a  slate,  purchased  and  just  cleaned  by  myself,  and  pressed 
the  five  spread  fingers  of  his  right  hand  on  the  upper  surface  of 
the  slate,  while  his  left  hand  rested  on  the  centre  of  the  table. 
Writing  began  on  the  inner  surface  of  the  slate,  and  when  Slade 
turned  it  up,  the  following  sentence  was  written  in  English:  “It 
was  not  our  intention  to  do  harm ;  forgive  what  has  happened.” 
We  were  the  more  surprised  at  the  production  of  the  writing  under 
these  circumstances,  for  we  particularly  observed  that  both  Slade’s 
hands  remained  quite  motionless  while  the  writing  was  going  ou. 

The  above-mentioned  phenomena,  which  we  witnessed  at  our 
first  meeting  with  Slade,  appeared  to  me  and  my  friends  so  extra¬ 
ordinary,  and  so  much  at  variance  with  all  our-  former  conceptions, 


ECRTtIRIt  PHENOMENA. 


that  William  Weber  and  myself  resolved  to  give  some  of  our  col¬ 
leagues  the  opportunity  of  testifying  to  them.  We  therefore  went 
the  next  day  to  Professor  C.  Ludwig  and  informed  him  of  the 
facts.  The  interest  which  he  took  in  the  subject  encouraged  me 
to  invite  two  other  friends  to  come  to  my  house  the  next  day  (Sun¬ 
day,  November  18th),  to  judge  for  themselves  in  the  presence  of 
Slade.  I  proposed  my  colleagues,  Herr  Geheimrath  Thiersch,  sur¬ 
geon,  and  Herr  Wundt,  Professor  of  Philosophy,  in  which  choice 
Herr  Ludwig  fully  concurred. 

On  Sunday,  the  18th  November,  at  three  o’clock  in  the  after¬ 
noon,  these  three  gentlemen  met  at  my  house.  I  had  purchased 
the  previous  day  a  new  walnut-wood  card-table  from  a  cabinet¬ 
maker  in  this  town,  named  J.  G.  Hitter,  and  had  put  it  in  the  place 
of  the  table  used  at  the  former  sitting.  The  slates,  single  and 
folding,  which  we  placed  at  Slade’s  disposal  were  bought  by  my¬ 
self  and  my  friends,  and  were  marked  by  us.  There  were  present 
at  the  seance  only  Herr  Geheimrath  Thiersch,  C.  Ludwig,  and 
Professor  Wundt:  after  half  an  hour’s  sitting,  they  left  the  room. 
Of  the  phenomena  observed  by  them  I  will  only  mention  that 
related  to  me  by  Ilerr  Thiersch,  vi.n,  a  successful  experiment  simi¬ 
lar  to  my  own  with  my  pocket-knife,  and,  in  addition,  that  between 
the  folds  of  a  double  slate,  which  Slade  held  in  his  right  hand  over 
the  table  in  view  of  all,  three  sentences  were  written  in  the  Eng¬ 
lish,  French,  and  German  languages,  each  one  in  an  entirely  differ¬ 
ent  handwriting.  The  slate  remains  in  my  possession,  and  affords 
opportunity  for  investigation  with  regard  to  the  question  of  previ¬ 
ous  preparation. 

It  is  to  be  understood  that  thp  present  relation  of  facts  in  no 
way  presupposes  a  judgment  in  the  minds  of  my  colleagues  as 
regards  the  causes  of  the  phenomena.  I  perfectly  agree  with  the 
Imperial  Court  conjurer,  Herr  ilellachiui,  whose  testimony  con¬ 
cerning  Slade  begins  with  the  following  words  :  — 

“  I  hereby  declare  it  to  be  a  rash  act  to  form  any  conclusion 
with  regard  to  the  objective  mcdiumistic  performances  of  the 


56 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


American,  Mr.  Ilenry  Slade,  even  with  the  minutist  observation, 
after  one  sitting  only.”  [See  Appendix  B.j 

Slade  returned  the  same  afternoon,  about  six  o’clock,  to  Berlin. 
All  that  had  been  observed  in  his  presence  appeared  to  me  and 
my  friends  to  be  of  so  interesting  a  nature,  and  so  entirely  worthy 
of  further  investigation,  that  we  thankfully  and  willingly  accepted 
the  oiler  of  my  friend,  Mr.  Oscar  von  Hoffmann,  to  invite  Slade 
to  spend  a  longer  time  in  Leipsic  as  his  guest,  that  he  might  be 
thus  withdrawn  from  all  publicity,  and  placed  entirely  at  our  dis¬ 
posal  for  the  purposes  of  scientilic  research.  In  consequence  of 
this  invitation,  Slade  came  a  second  time  alone  to  Lcipsic,  on 
Monday,  10th  December,  1877,  and  took  up  his  appointed  quar¬ 
ters  in  the  house  of  my  friend. 

Next  morning  (Tuesday,  11th  December),  at  half-past  eleven 
Slade  came  to  my  house.  This  was  high  and  detached,  and  I  had 
placed  the  above-mentioned  card-table  in  a  corner  room  which  had. 
four  large  windows,  three  to  the  south,  and  one  to  the  west.  Pro¬ 
fessor  W.  Weber,  Professor  Scheibner,  Slade,  and  I  seated  our¬ 
selves  forthwith  at  the  card-table,  which  was  quite  detached,  and 
placed  in  the  middle  of  the  room.  Weber  was  opposite  to  me, 
Scheibner  at  the  left,  Slade  at  the  right.  While  our  eight  hands 
were  upon  the  table,  in  contact,  and  Slade’s  feet,  crossed  sideways, 
were  continually  observed  by  the  sitter  at  the  side  next  him,  a  large 
hand-bell  which  had  been  put  under  the  table  suddenly  began  to 
ring,  and  was  then  violently  projected  before  all  our  eyes  about 
ten  feet  distance  horizontally  upon  the  floor.  After  a  short  pause, 
in  which  phenomena  similar  to  those  already  described  took  place, 
a  small  note-table,  fixed  to  a  door-post  by  a  movable  iron  support, 
began  suddenly  to  move,  and  so  violently  that  a  chair  standing  in 
front  of  it  was  thrown  down  with  a  great  noise.  These  objects  were 
behind  Slade,  and  at  least  five  feet  from  him.  At  the  same  time, 
and  at  the  like  distance,  a  book-case,  loaded  with  many  books,  was 
violently  agitated.  A  small  paper  thermometer-case  was  laid  on 
the  slate,  which  Slade  held  half  under  the  edge  of  tli£  table.  This 
disappeared,  so  that  Slade  could  show  the  slate  empty  ;  after  about 


EXPERIMENTS  WITH  A  COMPASS. 


57 


three  minutes  it  came  again  into  view  upon  the  slate.  Both  here, 
and  iu  the  following  account,  I  take  no  notice  of  the  continually 
repeated  writing  between  the  slates. 

On  the  same  day,  the  same  persons  assembled  in  the  same  room 
for  a  second  sitting.  W.  Weber  placed  on  the  table  a  compass, 
enclosed  in  glass,  the  needle  of  which  we  could  all  observe  very 
distinctly  by  the  bright  candlelight,  while  we  had  our  hands  joined 
with  those  of  Slade  (which  were  both  visible,  and  over  a  foot  dis¬ 
tant  from  the  compass).  After  about  five  minutes  the  needle 
began  to  swing  violently  in  arcs  of  from  40°  to  G0°,  till  at  length 
it  several  times  turned  completely  round.  Slade  now  got  up,  and 
went  from  the  table  to  the  window;  he  hoped  that  the  movements 
of  the  needle  (which  were  especially  remarkable  by  reason  of  the 
frequent  sudden  revolutions  and  the  resting  points)  would  be  con¬ 
tinued  in  his  absence  :  this,  however,  did  not  happen.  But  when, 
standing,  he  again  put  his  right  hand  with  ours  (always  joined  to 
his)  in  motion  (Slade’s  hand,  however,  remaining  at  least  a  foot 
and  a  half  from  the  compass) ,  the  peculiar  agitations  of  the  needle 
suddenly  recommenced,  and  were  finally  changed  into  rotations. 

In  order  to  repeat  some  observations  with  an  accordion,  in  the 
presence  of  Home  (which  were  made  and  published  by  Crookes 
and  Huggins),  besides  the  above-mentioned  large  hand-bell,  an 
accordion  had  been  brought  by  one  of  my  friends.  The  bell  was 
placed  under  the  table,  as  in  the  morning,  and  Slade  grasped  the 
keyless  end  of  the  accordion  (which  lie  had  never  had  in  his  hands 
before,  but  saw  now  for  the  first  time)  above,  so  that  the  side  with 
keys  hung  down  free.  While  Slade’s  left  hand  lay  on  the  table, 
and  his  right,  holding  the  upper  part  of  the  accordion  above  the 
table,  was  visible  to  us  all,  the  accordion  began  suddenly  to  play,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  bell  on  the  floor  to  ring  violently.  The  latter 
could  thus  not  be  touching  the  floor  with  its  edges  during  the  ring¬ 
ing.  Hereupon  Slade  gave  the  accordion  to  Professor  Sclieibner, 
and  requested  him  to  hold  it  in  the  manner  aboved  described,  as  it 
might  possibly  happen  that  the  accordion  would  [day  iu  his  hand 
also,  without  Slade  touching  it  at  all.  Scarcely  had  Sclieibner  tho 


TRANSCENDENTAL  rilYSTCS. 


58 

accordion  in  liis  hand  than  it  began  to  play  a  tune  exactly  in  the 
same  way,  while  the  hell  under  the  table  again  rang  violently. 
Slade’s  hands  meanwhile  rested  quietly  on  the  table,  and  his  feet, 
turned  sideways,  could  be  continually  observed  during  this  pro¬ 
ceeding. 

Encouraged  by  the  success  of  this  exactly-described  experiment, 
Slade  renewed  the  repeated  attempt,  hitherto  in  vain,  to  obtain 
writing  on  a  slate  held  by  another,  and  not  touched  at  all  by  him¬ 
self.  He  therefore  handed  to  Professor  Scheibner  one  of  the 
slates  purchased  by  myself  and  kept  in  readiness,  requesting  him  to 
hold  it  at  first  with  his  left  hand  under  the  table,  while  Slade  held 
it  firmly  at  the  edge  with  his  right  hand :  Scheibner  could  thus 
always  judge  from  a  pull  or  pressure  whether  Slade  was  holding 
the  slate  close  under  the  table.  Scheibner’s  right  hand  and  Slade’s 
left  rested  meanwhile  on  the  table.  After  waiting  vainly  for  a 
short  time,  Slade  remarked  that  he  felt  a  damp  body  touching  the 
hand  that  held  the  slate,  and  at  the  same  time  Professor  Scheibner 
also  testified  to  the  same  sensation,  which  he  likened  to  the  touch 
of  a  piece  of  damp  felt-cloth.  Scheibner  then  withdrew  the  slate, 
which  in  fact  was  freely  moistened  on  the  upper  side,  both  in  the 
centre  and  at  the  edges  for  a  breadth  of  from  two  to  three  inches, 
as  were  also  the  hands,  both  of  Scheibner  and  Slade,  which  had 
held  the  slate. 

While  we  were  conjecturing  in  what  conceivable  manner  this 
moistening  could  have  happened,  and  all  our  hands  were  on  the 
table,  there  appeared  suddenly  a  small  reddish-brown  hand  at  the 
edge  of  the  table,  close  in  front  of  W.  Weber,  and  visible  to  us 
all,  which  moved  itself  vivaciously  and  disappeared  after  two  sec¬ 
onds.  This  phenomenon  was  several  times  repeated. 

In  order,  conclusively,  to  establish  the  elevation  above  the  floor 
of  one  body  sounding  against  another,  I  had  suspended  a  steel  ball, 
of  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  diameter,  by  a  silk  thread  inside 
a  cylindrical  glass  bell  of  one  foot  in  height  and  one-half  foot 
diameter.  The  bell  so  formed  was  placed  under  the  table  instead 
of  the  other  bell,  and  very  soon  there  began  a  lively  tinkling  with 


SLADE  AND  TIIE  GRAND  DUKE  CONSTANTINE. 


59 


unmufilcd  tones  as  the  steel  hall  struck  against  the  glass  side.  As 
Slade’s  hands  were  on  the  table,  and  his  feet  were  observed ;  and 
even  in  case  of  an  application  by  the  latter,  the  tone  of  the  bell 
would  have  been  affected  by  the  contact  of  another  body ;  this  phe¬ 
nomenon  could  only  be  brought  about  by  an  elevation  of  the  bell 
to  freedom  from  contact. 

On  the  next  day,  the  13th  December,  1877,  Slade  proposed  to 
us  liiinself  that  we  should  make  a  direct  observation  of  the  move¬ 
ment  of  the  said  bell  under  the  table,  and  thereby  make  sure  that 
this  movement  happened  without  any  contact  on  •  his  part,.  With 
this  view  we  sat  at  a  distance  of  about  four  feet  from  the  table; 
by  means  of  caudles  suitably  placed  we  could  conveniently  observe 
everything  which  happened  under  the  table.  The  glass-bell  was 
now  placed  under  the  table,  and  indeed  towards  the  side  facing  us, 
about  in  the  line  between  the  two  feet  of  the  table  which  were 
nearest  us.  Slade  sat  on  the  opposite  side,  and  had  his  feet,  visi¬ 
ble  to  us  all,  drawn  back  under  his  chair,  so  that  they  were  about 
three  feet  from  the  bell.  After  a  short  time  the  bell,  without  any 
touching  on  Slade’s  part,  began  moving  violently,  rolling  about  in 
an  oblique  position  upon  the  lower  glass  edge,  the  steel  ball  there¬ 
by  grinding  against  the  glass  side. 

On  this  evening  occurred  writing  between  a  double  slate,  bound 
cross-wise  by  a  tight  knot,  and  laid  on  a  corner  of  the  table,  and 
which  no  one  touched.  This  result  may  be  compared  with  that 
obtained  at  St.  Petersburg,  recorded  in  an  English  journal,  The 
Spiritualist,  of  March  1st,  1878,  which  contains  the  following 
paragraphs  under  the  title,  “  Dr.  Slade’s  Seances  with  the  Grand 
Duke  Constantine”:  — 

“  On  Wednesday  last,  Dr.  Slade,  accompanied  by  M.  Alexandre 
Aksakow  and  Professor  Boutlerof,  gave  a  seance  to  the  Grand 
Duke  Constantine.  The  Duke  gave  them  a  cordial  reception,  and 
after  a  few  minutes’  conversation,  the  manifestations  began  with 
great  power.  The  Duke  held  a  new  slate,  alone,  and  obtained 
independent  writing  upon  it. 

“The  Grand  Duke  Constantine  has  before  this  shown  his  appro 


no 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


ciation  of  now  branches  of  science.  When  Lieutenant  Maury  was 
oliliineil  to  ilce  from  the  United  States  during  the  late  civil  war, 
the  Duke  recognized  the  —  then  scarcely  appreciated  —  value  of 
his  researches  ou  the  physical  geography  of  the  sea  and  oceanic 
currents,  so  offered  him  a  home  and  a  welcome  in  Russia. 

“  Dr.  Slade  is  fully  engaged  in  St.  Petersburg,  and  sometimes 
obtains  messages  in  the  Russian  language.  At  one  of  his  sittings 
last  week  he  obtained  writing  in  six  languages  upon  a  single  slate.” 

The  above  fact  is  additionally  confirmed  by  the  following  pub¬ 
lic  testimony  by  M.  Aksakow,  Imperial  Privy  Councillor :  — 

“  I  can,  as  a  witness,  testify  that  the  writing  was  produced  upon 
a  slate  which  the  Grand  Duke  alone  held  under  and  close  to  the 
table,  while  Slade’s  hands  were  on  the  table  and  did  not  touch  the 
slate.  Slade  lias  since  had  the  honor  of  being  invited  to  two 
seances  by  the  Grand  Duke. —  Aksakow.” 

The  above  experiment,  described  as  succeeding  with  the  Grand 
Duke  Constantine,  was  never  successful  in  my  sittings,  although 
Mr.  Slade  with  this  object  has  repeatedly  given  the  slate  to  be  held 
alone  by  Professor  W.  Weber  and  Professor  Schcibner.  On  the 
other  hand,  that  of  the  evening  in  question  (13th  December,  1877 ) 
which  succeeded  with  W.  Weber  and  me  was  yet  more  remarkable. 
Two  slates  were  bought  by  myself,  marked,  and  carefully  cleaned. 
They  were  then  —  a  splinter  of  about  three  millimetres  thickness 
from  a  new  slate-pencil  having  first  been  put  between  them  — 
bound  tightly  together,  cross-wise,  with  a  string  four  millimetres 
thick.  They  were  laid  on,  and  close,  to  the  comer  of  a  card-table 
of  walnut  wood  which  I  had  shortly  before  purchased  myself. 
While,  now,  W.  Weber,  Slade,  and  I  sat  at  the  table,  and  were 
busied  with  magnetic  experiments,  during  which  our  six  hands  lay 
on  the  table,  those  of  Slade  being  two  feet  from  the  slate,  very  loud 
writing  began  suddenly  between  the  untouched  slates.  When  we 
separated  them,  there  was  upon  one  of  them  the  following  words, 
in  nine  lines,  “  We  feel  to  bless  all  that  try  (?)  to  investigate  a 
subject  so  unpopular  as  the  subject  of  Spiritualism  is  at  the  pres¬ 
ent.  But  it  will  not  always  be  so  unpopular;  it  will  take  its 


TEST  EXPERIMENT  IN  SLATE-WRITING.  (11 

place  among  the  .  .  .  (V)  of  all  classes  and  kinds.”  The  slate 
had  the  mark  (II. 2)  previously  placed  by  me  upon  it.  There  can 
be  no  talk  here  of  a  trick  or  of  antecedent  preparations. 

In  addition,  the  large  hand-bell  which  was  laid  on  the  floor  at 
the  side  of  the  table  opposite  to  me  was  placed  quietly  and  slowly 
in  my  left  hand,  ivhich  I  held  close  under  the  table ;  during  this 
proceeding  also  Slade’s  hands  were  both  visible,  and  his  feet 
were  under  our  control.  Finally,  Mr.  Slade  himself  proposed  an 
experiment  which  should  serve  as  proof  that  the  slates  were  not 
previously  prepared  and  the  writing  already  present  on  them,  invisi¬ 
bly,  before  the  apparent  production  of  it.  He  took  as  usual  the 
slate  which  came  to  hand,  laid  a  bit  of  slate-pencil  of  the  size  of  a 
pea  upon  it,  and  asked  me,  while  ho  pushed  the  slate  half  under 
the  edge  of  the  table  (so  that  his  hand  could  be  continually 
observed),  what  should  be  written  upon  it.  I  said  “Littrow, 
Astronomer.”  The  usual  scribbling  began  immediately,  and  when 
Slade  drew  out  the  slate,  the  two  above  words  were  perfectly  distinct 
upon  it,  with  the  letters  widely  apart.  If  Slade  did  not  write  the 
words  himself  (at  the  time),  which  from  the  position  of  his  hand 
and  of  the  letters  upon  the  slate  was  impossible,  so  likewise  could 
these  words  certainly  not  have  been  produced  by  means  of  a  pre¬ 
vious  preparation  of  the  slate,  since  the  words  themselves  had 
occurred  to  me  quite  suddenly  for  the  first  time. 

Friday,  14th  December,  1877  (11.10  to  11.40  a.m.)  To-day, 
first  one  of  the  slates  kept  always  in  readiness,  which  I  myself 
selected  and  cleaned,  was  laid  open  with  a  bit  of  slate-pencil  upon 
the  floor  under  the  table.  Now,  while  Slade  had  both  his  hands 
linked  with  ours  upou  the  table,  and  his  legs,  turned  sideways,  were 
continually  visible,  writing,  loudly  perceptible  by  us  all,  began  on 
the  slate  lying  below.  When  we  raised  it,  there  were  on  it  the 
words  —  “Truth  will  overcome  all  error!”  Next,  two  magnetic 
needles,  a  larger  and  a  smaller  one,  both  completely  enclosed  in 
glass  cases,  wTcre  placed  close  in  front  of  W.  Weber.  Our  hands 
were  linked  upon  the  table  with  those  of  Slade  in  the  usual  man¬ 
ner,  and  were  at  least  one  foot  from  the  magnetic  needle.  Sud- 


02  TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 

dcnly  the  small  needle  began  to  oscillate  violently,  till  it  got  into 
constant  rotation,  while  the  larger  one  showed  only  slight  agitations, 
which  appeared  to  proceed  from  a  shaking  of  the  table.  Since 
here  forces  were  manifestly  at  work  (no  matter  what  their  origin) 
which  were  able  to  act  upon  the  magnetism  of  bodies,  I  suggested 
to  Slade  the  attempt  permanency  to  magnetise  an  unmagnetic 
steel  needle.  Slade  hesitated  at  first,  and  seemed  to  think  our 
success  doubtful.  However,  he  was  at  once  ready  to  consent  to 
the  proposition.  I  fetched  a  large  number  of  steel  knitting-need¬ 
les,  and  W.  Weber  and  I  chose  from  them  one  which,  immediately 
before  the  experiment  (on  the  table  at  which  we  sat),  was  ascer¬ 
tained  by  means  of  the  compass  to  be  wholly  unmagnetised,  inas¬ 
much  as  both  poles  were  attracted.  Slade  laid  this  needle  upon 
a  slate,  held  the  latter  under  the  table  just  in  the  same  way  as  for 
writing,  and  after  about  four  minutes,  when  the  slate  with  the 
knitting-needle  was  laid  again  upon  the  table,  the  needle  was  so 
strongly  magnetised  at  one  end  (and  only  at  one  end)  that  iron 
shavings  and  sewing-needles  stuck  to  this  end ;  the  needle  of  the 
compass  could  be  easily  drawn  round  in  a  circle.  The  originated 
pole  was  a  south  pole,  inasmuch  as  the  north  pole  of  the  (compass) 
needle  was  attracted,  the  south  pole  repelled.  The  needle  is  still 
in  my  possession,  and  can  at  any  time  be  tested. 


CHAPTER  THIRD 


PERMANENT  IMPRESSIONS  OBTAINED.OF  HANDS  AND  FEET — PROPOSED  CHEMI¬ 
CAL  EXPERIMENT  — SLADE’S  ABNORMAL  VISION  — IMPRESSIONS  IN  A  CLOSED 
SPACE  — ENCLOSED  SPACE  OF  THREE  DIMENSIONS  OPEN  TO  FOUR-DIMENSIONAL 
BEINGS. 

As  almost  regularly  at  all  the  sittings  (while  Slade’s  hands 
rested  on  the  table,  visible  to  all  present,  and  his  feet,  in  the  side¬ 
ways  position  frequently  mentioned,  could  be  at  any  time  observed) 
we  felt  the  touch  of  bauds  under  the  table,  and,  as  above-remarked, 
had  even  seen  these  transiently  under  the  same  conditions,  I 
desired  to  institute  an  experiment  by  which  a  convincing  proof  of 
the  existence  of  these  hands  could  he  afforded.  I  therefore  pro¬ 
posed  to  Mr.  Slade  to  have  placed  under  the  table  a  flat  porcelain 
vase  filled  up  to  the  edge  with  wheat  flour,  aud  that  he  should 
then  request  his  “spirits”  to  put  their  hands  in  the  flour  before 
touching  us.  In  this  manner  the  visible  traces  of  the  touching 
must  be  shown  on  our  clothes  after  the  contact,  and  at  the  same 
time  Slade’s  hands  and  feet  could  be  examined  for  remains  of 
flour  adhering  to  them.  Slade  declared  himself  ready  at  once  for 
the  proposed  test.  I  fetched  a  large  porcelain  bowl  of  about  one 
foot  diameter  and  two  inches  deep,  filled  it  evenly  to  the  brim 
with  flour,  and  placed  it  under  the  table.  We  did  not  trouble  our¬ 
selves  at  first  about  the  eventual  success  of  this  experiment,  but 
continued  for  over  five  minutes  the  magnetic  experiments,  Slade’s 
hands  being  all  the  time  visible  upon  the  table ;  when  suddenly  I 
felt  my  right  knee  powerfully  grasped  and  pressed  by  a  large  hand 
under  the  table  for  about  a  second,  and  at  the  same  moment,  as 

(63) 


04 


TRANSCENDENT  AT.  1>II  YSICS. 


I  mentioned  tliis  to  tlie  others  and  was  about  to  get  up,  the  bowl 
oi'  meal  was  pushed  forward  from  its  place  under  the  table  about 
foui'  feet  on  the  lloor.  Upon  my  trousers  I  had  the  impression  in 
meal  of  a  large  strong;  hand,  and  on  the  meal  surface  of  the  bowl 
were  indented  the  thumb  and  four  fingers  with  all  the  niceties  of 
structure  and  folds  of  the  skin  impressed.  An  immediate  examina¬ 
tion  of  Slade’s  hands  and  feet  showed  not  the  slightest  trace's  of 
Hour,  and  the  comparison  of  his  own  hand  with  the  impression  on 
the  meal  proved  the  latter  to  be  considerably  larger.  The  impres¬ 
sion  is  still  in  my  possession,  although  through  frequent  shakings 
the  delicacy  of  the  lines  is  becoming  gradually  obliterated  by  the 
falling  together  of  the  particles  of  meal. 

Slade  was  highly  pleased  at  the  success  of  the  magnetic  experi¬ 
ments,  particularly  the  magnetising  of  the  knitting-needle,  an 
attempt  which  we  often  repeated  on  the  following  day  with  always 
the  like  result.  lie  expressed  in  warm  terms  his  happiness  that 
he  had,  for  the  first  time,  succeeded  in  interesting  men  of  sincere 
inclination  to  truth  for  his  peculiar  endowments  in  such  a  degree 
that  they  had  resolved  to  institute  scientilic  experiments  with 
him. 

I  was  uow  sufficiently  encouraged  gradually  to  set  on  foot  those 
experiments  which  I  had  prepared  from  the  stand-point  of  my 
theory  of  a  space  of  four  dimensions.  Since  the  magnetic  experi¬ 
ments  had  proved  that  under  the  influences  which  invisibly  sur¬ 
rounded  Slade,  the  molecular  currents,  present  in  the  interior  of 
all  bodies,  could  be  turned,  that  is,  altered  in  their  position 
(whereon,  according  to  Ampere’s  and  Weber’s  theory,  the  mag¬ 
netising  of  bodies  principally  depends),  I  entertained  the  hope 
that  an  experiment  indicated  in  the  first  volume  of  my  Scientific 
Treatises  would  succeed;  viz;.,  the  conversion,  by  a  four-dimen¬ 
sional  diversion  of  molecules  of  tartaric  acid,  which  diverts  the 
plane  of  polarized  light  to  the  right,  into  racemic  acid,  which 
diverts  it  to  the  left.  To  this  end  I  had  kept  in  readiness  one  of 
Mitchell’s  simple  polarizing  saccharometers,  the  tube  of  which  con¬ 
tained  a  solution  of  tartaric  acid.  The  diversion  of  the  plane  of 


ABNORMAL  VTSTON. 


65 

polarization  amounted  to  about  5’.  I  intended  that  the  glass  tube 
(200  millimetres  long  and  15  outer  diameter),  filled  with  the  solu¬ 
tion,  should  be  laid  on  the  slate,  the  latter  being  held  by  Slade 
under  the  table,  as  in  the  case  of  the  knitting-needles  which  were 
to  be  magnetised ;  in  the  expectation  that  after  the  experiment  I 
should  see  the  tartaric  acid  changed  into  racemic  acid.  Wisliing 
first  to  explain  to  Mr.  Slade  the  meaning  of  the  experiment,  I 
began  by  pointing  out  to  him  in  the  apparatus  itself,  after  remov¬ 
ing  the  tube,  the  optical  effect  of  two  crossed  Nicol’s  prisms.  I 
desired  him,  while  sitting  in  his  chair,  to  fix  his  eye  on  the  front 
prism,  and  then  to  look  with  the  apparatus  at  the  clear  sky  (the 
experiment  took  place  at  my  house  at  11.45  in  the  morning  of  the 
14th  December,  1877),  while  I  slowly  turned  the  front  Nicol.  I 
now  asked  Slade,  when  the  two  prisms  were  about  crossed,  if  he 
observed  the  gradual  darkening  of  the  field  of  view.  To  my  groat 
surprise,  he  said  he  did  not.  I  supposed  him  to  be  deceived  by 
the  side  light,  and  therefore  disposed  the  two  prisms  from  the  front 
at  right  angles,  so  that  neither  I  nor  my  friends  could  sec  through 
at  all.  Slade  still  asserted  that  he  did  not  perceive  the  least 
change  in  the  clearness  of  the  sky;  and  as  proof  lie  read  an  Eng¬ 
lish  writing,  placed  before  the  two  crossed  Nicols,  covering  his 
left  eye,  as  we  saw,  with  his  left  hand.  I  was  not,  however,  con¬ 
tented  with  this  proof  of  the  fact.  Next  morning,  when  we  were 
again  assembled  at  my  house,  I  had  two  very  large  Nicol’s  prisms 
(for  the  production  of  a  greater  lield  of  view)  fixed  to  turn  closely 
one  over  the  other,  and  a  large  circular  screen,  which  completely 
covered  the  sight  of  the  observer,  so  placed  in  connection  with  the 
prisms,  that  external  objects  could  only  be  perceived  through  the 
two  Nicol’s  prisms.  I  then  took  au  English  book,  Tyndall’s  Fara¬ 
day  as  a  Discoverer,  and  in  Slade’s  absence  marked  by  interlinea¬ 
tions  the  following  words  on  page  81: — “The  burst  of  power 
which  had  filled  the  four  preceding  years  with  an  amount  of 
experimental  work  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  Science.”  When 
1  again  made  Slade  look  through  the  two  crossed  Nicols  at  the 
sky,  and  he  declared,  as  on  the  day  before,  that  lie  did  not  remark 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


GG 

(ho  least  change  in  the  clearness  of  the  sky  when  the  prisms  were 
turned,  I  requested  him  to  sit  on  a  chair,  and  to  read  to  me  the 
underlined  words  from  the  hook,  held  at  a  distance  of  about  two 
feet  from  his  sight.  To  the  great  astonishment  of  us  all,  he  imme¬ 
diately  read  the  above  words  with  perfect  accuracy.  When,  about 
ten  minutes  later,  I  held  the  two  prisms  crossed  again  before 
Slade’s  eye,  he  was  no  longer  able  to  sec,  and  the  experiment  was 
not  more  successful  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day  by  candlelight, 
lie  informed  me  that  in  the  morning,  soon  after  the  experiment  in 
question,  he  had  perceived  “an  influence,”  to  which  he  ascribed 
the  change  of  his  condition.  In  connection  with  what  has  been 
quoted  above,  from  Professor  Fechner,  with  reference  to  the 
change  in  the  magnetic  condition  of  a  sensitive,  this  alteration  in 
Slade’s  optical  powers  may  afford  an  interesting  confirmation  of  the 
transitory  character  of  such  anomalous  organic  functions.  The 
originally  intended  experiment  with  the  tartaric  acid  was  discon¬ 
tinued  in  consequence  of  the  above  extraordinary  observations.  I 
purposed  to  carry  it  out  at  a  future  investigation  of  Slade’s  pecu¬ 
liarities. 

On  Saturday,  the  15th  December,  1877,  at  eleven  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  we  assembled  again  at  my  house.  While  we  were  taking  a 
small  breakfast,  standing  in  my  work-room,  and  I  was  talking  to 
Slade  near  my  book-ease,  some  twenty  feet  from  the  stove,  about 
the  experiment  with  the  crossed  Nicol’s  prisms  (which  Slade  desig¬ 
nated  a  “clairvoyant  experiment”),  there  fell  suddenly  from 
the  ceiling  of  the  room  a  piece  of  coal  the  size  of  a  fist.  A  simi¬ 
lar  incident  happened  half-an-hour  later,  when  my  colleague  Scheib- 
ner,  in  conversation  with  Slade,  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  the 
sitting-room ;  a  piece  of  wood,  instead  of  coal,  falling  suddenly 
from  the  ceiling.  On  the  morning  of  the  11th  December  when  we 
stood  talking,  after  the  sitting,  and  I  was  standing  near  Slade,  we 
suddenly  saw  my  pocket-knife,  fortunately  shut,  fly  through  the 
air,  and  strike  the  forehead  of  my  friend  Scheibncr  with  some 
force,  the  scar  remaining  visible  on  the  following  day.  Since  at 
the  time  of  the  incident  I  was  conversing  with  Slade,  and  the  lut- 


IMPRESSION  OF  A  FOOT. 


67 


ter  had  his  hack  turned  to  my  friend  at  a  distance  of  about  ten 
feet,  Mr.  Slade,  at  any  rate,  could  not  have  thrown  the  knife  at 
my  friend’s  head.  I  only  cite  this  incident  because  it  appears  to 
me  to  belong  to  the  same  class  as  the  above-mentioned  facts. 

Those  experiments  seem  to  me  far  more  important,  however,  in 
which  'permanent  impressions  of  contact  were  left  behind,  as  was 
the  case  with  the  impression  of  the  hand  in  the  bowl  of  flour. 

With  this  view  I  stuck  half  a  sheet  of  common  letter-paper  upon 
a  somewhat  larger  board  of  wood ;  it  was  the  cover  of  a  wooden 
box,  in  which  Herr  Merz  had  sent  me  some  large  prisms  for  spec¬ 
troscopic  purposes  from  Munich  four  days  before.  By  moving  the 
paper  over  a  petroleum  lamp  without  a  cylinder  it  was  spread  all 
over  with  soot  (lamp  black),  and  then  placed  under  the  table  at 
which  W.  Weber,  Slade,  and  I  had  taken  out  seats.  Hoping  to 
obtain  upon  the  sooted  paper  the  impress  of  the  hand,  as  on  the  pre¬ 
vious  day,  we  at  first  directed  our  attention  again  to  the  magnetic 
experiments.  Suddenly  the  board  was  pushed  forward  with  force 
under  the  table  about  the  distance  of  one  meter,  and  on  my  rais¬ 
ing  it,  there  was  on  it  the  impression  of  a  naked  left  foot.  I  at 
once  desired  Slade  to  stand  up  and  show  me  both  his  feet.  Ho 
did  this  most  willingly  ;  after  he  had  drawn  off  his  shoes,  we  exam¬ 
ined  the  stockings  for  any  adhering  particles  of  soot,  but  without 
finding  anything  of  the  sort.  Then  we  made  him  put  his  foot  on 
a  measure,  from  which  it  appeared  that  the  length  of  his  foot  from 
the  heel  to  the  great  toe  was  22’5  centimetres,  whereas  the  length 
of  the  impression  of  the  foot  between  the  same  parts  amounted 
only  to  18'5  centimetres. 

Two  days  later,  on  the  17th  December,  1877,  at  eight  o’clock  in 
the  evening,  I  repeated  this  experiment,  only  with  the  difference 
that  instead  of  a  board  46  centimetres  long  by  22  broad  a  slate 
was  used,  whoso  surface,  not  covered  by  the  wooden  frame,  was 
14’5  centimetres  broad  and  22  long.  Upon  this  free  surface  I 
stuck  a  half  sheet  of  letter-paper  (Bath)  cut  down  to  exactly  the 
same  dimensions.  Immediately  before  the  sitting,  I  myself,  in  the 
presence  of  witnesses,  sooted  the  paper  in  the  manner  above 


G8 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


described.  The  slate  was  then,  as  before  the  board,  laid  under 
the  table  at  which  we  sat,  with  the  sooted  side  uppermost.  Upon 
a  given  sign  we  got  up  after  about  four  minutes,  and  upon  the 
slate  was  again  the  impression  of  the  same  left  foot  which  we  had 
obtained  two  days  earlier  upon  the  board.  I  have  had  this  impres¬ 
sion  reproduced  photographically  on  a  reduced  scale. 

I  learned  subsequently,  from  my  colleague,  Councillor  Thiersch, 
that  the  method  of  taking  impressions  of  human  limbs  on  sooted 
paper  was  already  frequently  applied  for  anatomical  and  surgical 
purposes.  In  the  judgment  of  Herr  Thiersch,  who  had  taken  a 
great  number  of  such  impressions  of  feet  of  different  persons  for 
comparison  from  that  obtained  by  us,  the  impression  produced  in 
the  presence  of  Mr.  Slade  is  that  of  a  man’s  foot  which  had  been 
tightly  compressed  by  the  make  of  the  shoe,  so  that,  as  often  hap¬ 
pens,  one  toe  is  pressed  over  the  two  next,  and  thus  only  four  toes 
touch  the  sooted  surface  on  imposition  of  the  foot,  as  is  also  the 
case  on  the  photograph.  Herr  Thiersch  showed  me  the  impression 
of  a  human  foot  in  which  likewise  only  four  toes  appeared  in  the 
way  denoted.  To  fix  these  soot  impressions,  it  is  only  requisite  to 
pass  them  through  a  thin  alcoholic  solution  of  shellac.  With 
reference  to  the  greatly  abbreviated  length  of  the  foot  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  its  breadth,  Herr  Thiersch  remarked  that  this  could  be 
effected  by  not  putting  down  the  heel  and  the  fore  part  of  the 
foot  at  the  same  time.  In  fact,  he  showed  me  an  impression  of  a 
foot  in  which  a  nearly  similar  abbreviation  had  been  produced  in 
this  way.  If  upon  these  observations  it  should  be  supposed  that 
Mr.  Slade  had  himself  produced  the  impression  by  putting  on  his 
foot  in  this  way,  it  must  first  be  assumed  that  he  was  able  to  draw 
off  and  on  his  shoes  and  stockings  without  application  of  his  hands 
(which  were  all  along  observed  by  us  upon  the  table)  ;  and,  sec¬ 
ondly,  that  he  was  so  expert  in  the  imposition  of  his  foot  on  a  nar¬ 
rowly  limited  space  (the  surface  of  the  slate)  that,  without  seeing 
lids  surface,  he  could,  nevertheless,  always  hit  upon  it  with  accu¬ 
racy.  This,  certainly,  would  presuppose  a  large  practice  in  Mr. 
blade  for  the  object  intended,  and  thereby  it  must  be  conjectured 


SLADE  NOT  AN  EXPERT. 


G9 


that  he  had  been  used  to  bring  forward  this  experiment.  Putting 
aside  his  lively  astonishment  and  his  assurance  that  such  phe¬ 
nomena  had  never  yet  been  observed  in  his  presence,*  up  to  the 
present  time  I  am  not  aware  of  any  published  accounts  of  Mr. 
Slade’s  production  of  similar  facts,  t  That  Slade’s  stockings  had 
not  been  cut  away  underneath  for  this  purpose-^ as  was  conject¬ 
ured  by  some  “men  of  science”  in  Leipsic,  who  iu  unimportant 
things  accept  our  physical  observations  with  absolute  confidence, 
hut  in  reference  to  the  foregoing  have  not  hesitated  to  instruct  us 
in  the  elementary  rules  for  instituting  exact  observations — of  that 
as  already  mentioned,  we  satisfied  ourselves  immediately  after  the 
experiment. 

Meanwhile,  to  meet  all  such  doubts  (and  the  attempts  at  expla¬ 
nation  are  scarcely  less  wonderful  than  are  the  facts  themselves), 
I  proposed  to  Mr.  Slade  an  experiment  which,  according  to  the 
theory  of  the  four-dimensional  space,  must  easily  succeed.  In  fact, 
if  the  effects  observed  by  us  proceed  from  intelligent  beings  occu¬ 
pying  ( welche  sich  befinderi),  in  the  absolute  space,  places  which 
in  the  direction  of  the  fourth  dimension  lie  near  the  places  occupied 
by  Mr.  Slade  and  us  in  the  three-dimensional  space,!:  and  therefore 


*  With  reference  to  this  statement,  the  translator  may  observe  that  he  has 
himself  had  many  sittings  with  Slade,  previous  to  that  time,  hss  received 
accounts  of  the  phenomena  occurring  in  his  presence  from  many  who  have  had 
equal  or  greater  experience  of  them,  and  has  read  many  accounts  of  them  ;  yet 
the  above,  and  nearly  all  other  of  the  special  experiments  described  in  the  text 
(Professor  Zullner’s),  are  wholly  new  to  him. 

tTo  appreciate  the  importance  of  this,  with  reference  to  the  suggestion  that 
Slade  is  an  expert,  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  he  has  been  for  many 
years  following  his  vocation  as  a  medium  in  the  light  of  the  utmost  publicity;  the 
Spiritualist  journals  (which  are  numerous)  of  America  and  England  having 
printed  innumerable  accounts  of  his  s  auces. — Tit. 

t The  conception  of  the  juxtaposition  of  different,  infinitely-extended  regions 
of  space  ( Kaumgebiete )  necessarily  presupposes  the  conception  of  the  next  higher 
region  of  space.  Thus  a  two-dimensional  being  could  indeed  oonceiveany  num¬ 
ber  of  parallel  infinite  straight  lines  ;  that  is,  infinitely  extended  spaces  (llaum- 
gebiete)  of  one  dimension,  but  the  infinite  plane  in  which  it  moves,  as  we  with 
our  bodies  in  the  infinitely  extended  (Aree-dimensional  space,  could  represent  to 
itself  only  once,  although  we,  as  three-dimensional  beings,  know  that  there  can 
be  any  number  of  infinitely-extended  parallel  planes,  which  accor  Jing  to  a  per¬ 
pendicular  direction,  that  is,  according  to  the  third  dimension,  can  be  arranged 


70 


TRANSCENDENTAL  lMIYSICS. 


necessarily  invisible  to  us,  for  these  beings  the  interior  of  a  liguro 
of  three-dimensional  space,  enclosed  on  all  sides,  is  just  as  easily 
accessible  as  is  to  us,  three-dimensional  beings,  the  interior  of  a 
surface  enclosed  on  all  sides  by  a  line  —  a  two-dimensional  figure. 
A  two-dimensional  being  can  represent  to  itself  a  straight  line  with 
only  one  perpendicular  ( Normale )  in  the  respective  two-dimen¬ 
sional  regions  of  space  (to  which  it  belongs  phenomenally).  We, 
on  the  contrary,  as  three-dimensional  beings,  know  that  there  are 
infinitely  many  perpendiculars  ( Normale )  to  a  straight  line  in 
space,  which  collectively  form  the  two-dimensional  geometrical 
place  of  the  perpendicular  plane  of  that  straight  line.  Analo¬ 
gously,  we  can  conceive  only  one  perpendicular  to  a  plane;  a 
being  of  four  dimensions  would,  however,  be  able  to  conceive  infin¬ 
itely  many  perpendiculars  to  a  plane,  collectively  forming  the  three- 
dimensional  place  which  in  the  fourth  dimension  stands  perpendicu¬ 
lar  to  that  plane.  By  our  nature  as  three-dimensional  beings  we 
could  form  for  ourselves  no  representation  of  these  space  relations, 
although  we  are  in  the  position  to  discover  ideally  ( begrijjllch ) , 
by  analogy,  the  possibility  of  their  real  existence.  The  reality  of 
their  existence  can  only  be  disclosed  through  facts  of  observation. 

In  order  to  obtain  such  an  observed  fact,  I  took  a  book-slate, 
bought  by  myself ;  that  is,  two  slates  connected  at  one  side  by 
cross  hinges,  like  a  book  for  folding  up.  In  the  absence  of  Slade 
I  lined  both  slates  within,  on  the  sides  applied  to  one  another,  with 
a  half  sheet  of  my  letter-paper,  which,  immediately  before  the  sit¬ 
ting,  was  evenly  spread  with  soot  in  the  way  already  described. 
This  slate  I  closed,  and  remarked  to  Mr.  Slade  that  if  my  theory 
of  the  existence  of  intelligent  four-dimensional  beings  in  nature 

in  juxtaposition.  All  these  planes  would  represent  infinitely-extended  two- 
dimensional  worlds,  whose  occurrences  in  each  region  of  space  are  completely 
separated  from  those  in  another.  If,  however,  under  certain  anomalous  condi 
tions,  a  two-dimensional  being  of  the  one  plane  were  causally  connected  with 
more  two-dimensional  beings  of  another  plane,  so  that  these  beings  by  move¬ 
ments  according  to  the  third  dimension  could  produce  effects  in  the  two-dimen¬ 
sional  region  of  the  lirst  plane,  this  would  seem  just  as  wonderful  to  the  moving 
beings  in  the  latter  as  do  to  us  the  effects  witnessed  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mr. 
Slade. 


A  HYPOTHESIS  AND  AN  EXPERIMENT. 


71 


was  well  founded,  it  must  be  an  easy  thing  for  them  to  place  on 
the  interior  of  the  closed  slates  the  impression  of  feet  hitherto  only 
produced  on  the  open  slates.  Slade  laughed,  and  thought  that 
this  would  be  absolutely  impossible ;  even  his  “  spirits,”  which  he 
questioned,  seemed  at  first  much  perplexed  with  this  proposition, 
but  finally  answered  with  the  stereotyped  caution,  “We  will  try 
it.”  To  my  great  surprise,  Slade  consented  to  my  laying  the 
closed  book-slate  (which  I  had  never  let  out  of  my  hands  after  I 
had  spread  the  soot)  on  my  lap  during  the  sitting,  so  that  I  could 
continually  observe  it  to  the  middle.*  We  might  have  sat  at  the 
table  in  the  brightly-lighted  room  for  about  five  minutes,  our  hands 
linked  with  those  of  Slade  in  the  usual  manner  above  the  table, 
when  I  suddenly  felt  on  two  occasions,  the  one  shortly  after  the 
other,  the  slate  pressed  down  upon  my  lap,  without  my  having  per¬ 
ceived  anything  in  the  least  visible.  Three  raps  on  the  table 
announced  that  all  was  completed,  and  when  I  opened  the  slate 
there  was  within  it  on  the  one  side  the  impression  of  a  right  foot, 
on  the  other  side  that  of  a  left  foot,  and  indeed  of  the  same  which 
we  had  already  obtained  on  the  two  former  evenings. 

My  readers  may  judge  for  themselves  how  far  it  is  possible  for 
me,  after  witnessing  these  facts,  to  consider  Slade  an  impostor  or 
a  conjurer.  Slade’s  own  astonishment  at  this  last  result  was  even 
greater  than  my  own.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  correct¬ 
ness  of  my  theory  with  regard  to  the  existence  of  intelligent  beings 
in  four-dimensional  space,  at  all  events  it  cannot  be  said  to  be  use¬ 
less  as  a  clue  to  research  in  the  mazes  of  Spiritualistic  phenomena. 


*Iu  (lie  previous  experiments  the  board  and  the  slate  had  been  laid  open  upon 
the  floor  under  tho  table. 


CHAPTER  FOURTH. 

CONDITIONS  OF  IN VESTIGATION  —  UNSCIENTIFIC  MEN  OF  SCIENCE  —  SLADE’S 
ANSWER  TO  PROFESSOR  BARRETT. 

Passing  over  the  numerous  other  physical  phenomena,  such  as 
violent  movements  of  quite  unattached  chairs  and  the  like,  since 
the  same  have  been  so  often  observed  and  circumstantially 
described  by  others,  I  may  next  discuss  the  question  how  far  it  is 
justifiable  and  reasonable  iu  dealing  with  new  phenomena,  the 
causes  of  which  are  entirely  unknown  to  us,  to  impose  conditions 
under  which  these  new  phenomena  should  occur.  That  for  the 
production  of  electricity  by  friction  on  the  surfaces  of  bodies  the 
driest  possible  air  is  requisite,  and  that  in  a  damp  atmosphere 
these  experiments  fail  entirely,  are  also  experimental  conditions, 
which  could  evidently  not  be  prescribed  a  priori,  but  have  been 
discovered  only  through  careful  observations  among  those  relations 
under  which  Nature  in  individual  cases  willingly  offers  us  these 
phenomena.  Just  therein,  indeed,  consists  the  acuteness  and  skill 
of  an  observer,  that  without  arbitrary  meddling  with  the  course  of 
the  phenomena,  he  so  prepares  his  observations  that  the  conclu¬ 
sions  drawn  from  them  exclude  the  possibility  of  every  error  and 
every  deception.  Would  it  have  been  possible  to  dictate  condi¬ 
tions  under  which  the  fall  of  meteorolites  should  be  observed  upon 
those  who  first  asserted  the  reality  of  those  phenomena?  On 
entering  new  provinces  one  must  always  take  to  heart  the  words  of 
Virchow,  which  he  uttered  at  the  last  meeting  of  scientific  men  at 

(72) 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  OUR  IGNORANCE. 


Munich,  in  his  speech  “  Upon  the  Freedom  of  Science  in  the  Mod¬ 
ern  State.” 

“  That  which  I  pride  myself  on  is  just  the  knowledge  of  my 
ignorance.  Since,  as  I  imagine,  I  know  with  tolerable  accuracy 
what  it  is  that  I  do  not  know,  I  always  say  to  myself,  when  I  have 
to  enter  upon  a  province  as  yet  closed  to  me,  ‘  Now  must  thou 
begin  again  to  learn  !  ’  ” 

How  far  Ilcrr  Virchow  himself,  when  the  occasion  is  forthcom¬ 
ing,  makes  use  of  the  teachings  of  modesty  which  he  imparts  to 
others  we  may  learn  from  the  following  words  of  Herr  State  Coun¬ 
cillor  Aksakow :  *  — 

“  The  attempts  which  I  caused  to  be  made  by  Herr  Wittig  in 
Berlin  for  a  scientific  examination  of  Mr.  Slade  by  Professors 
Helmholtz  and  Virchow  have  failed;  and  I  will  take  this  opportu¬ 
nity  to  show  by  an  example  how  right  I  was  in  speaking  of  the 
difficulties  which  we  still  have  to  experience  with  the  learned,  even 
when  it  is  a  question  of  simply  putting  the  mediumistic  phenomena 
to  the  proof,  and  this  solely  by  reason  of  their  disinclination  for  this 
province  of  investigation.  Thus,  Herr  Virchow  is  willing  indeed  to 
see  Mr.  Slade,  but  only  upon  the  terms  that,  Joe  latter  submits 
himself  to  aU  conditions  which  Herr  Virchow  shall  please  to  lay 
upon  him.  Here  now  is  a  man  of  science  (  Gelehrter')  who,  not 
knowing  even  the  A  B  C  of  the  phenomena  which  he  undertakes 
to  make  an  object  of  his  study,  at  the  outset  imposes  upon  them 
his  own  conditions  of  observation !  Could  a  similar  method  have 
been  at  all  approved  or  endured  in  the  study  of  any  branch  of 
natural  science  whatsoever  ?  ...  So  the  first  false  step  !  And 
then  what  were  these  conditions  ?  Mr.  Slade  should  allow  Pro¬ 
fessor  Virchow  to  bind  his  hands  and  .feet,  and  to  place  an  observer 
two  feet  from  the  table.  These  are  the  conditions  required  by  a 
German  man  of  science  of  great  renown,  and,  nevertheless,  how 


*  Psychicche  Stud  ten,  monthly  journal  devoted  principally  to  tho  investigation 
of  the  little-known  phenomena  of  the  soul-life.  Published  and  edited  by  Alex 
ander  Aksakow,  Russian  Imperial  Councillor  of  State,  at  St.  Petersburg,— Jan u  ' 
ai  y  number,  1878. 


74 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


‘illogical  aud  inconclusive’  (‘  unlogisch  und  beweis-unhrdftig  ’) 
arc  they!  Take  it  that  Mr.  Slade  submits  to  these  conditions,  and 
the  seance  is  successful.  Herr  Virchow  will  be  the  first,  aud  with 
him  the  whole  great  multitude,  thence  to  conclude  that  he  had  tied 
badly,  that  his  sentinel  had  observed  badly ,  and  that  the  adroitness 
of  the  conjurer  had  taken  him  at  a  disadvantage.  At  a  second 
seance  Ilcrr  Virchow  will  bind  the  medium  in  a  different  manner, 
and  will  appoint  two  sentinels;  the  same  result,  the  same  conclu¬ 
sion  !  At  the  third  seance  he  will  discover  yet  another  system  of 
fastening  and  precautions  much  more  elaborate  and  ingenious; 
the  same  result,  the  same  conclusion,  and  so  on  for  ever !  *  Mr. 

•Even  if  the  above  supposition  is  thought  unjust  to  Professor  Virchow  (as  it 
perhaps  is),  it  is  one  which  Slade’s  past  experience  made  a  reasonable  ground  for 
the  rejection  of  the  professor’s  conditions.  When  Slade  was  in  London  in  1876, 
a  distinguished  man  of  letters  was  anxious  to  obtain  writing  in  a  new  book-slate 
furnished  with  a  padlock,  and  locked  before  it  was  brought  to  the  seance.  Slade 
declined  the  attempt,  greatly  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  gentleman  referred  to, 
whoso  distrust  on  this  account  was  reflected  in  the  tone  of  his  evidence  at  Bow 
Street,  on  the  charge  against  Slade  by  Professor  Lankester,  though  otherwise  he 
was  witness  to  inexplicable  manifestations.  On  my  urging  Slade  subsequently 
to  comply,  ho  told  me  that  this  very  test  had  once  been  successfully  allowed,  but 
that  the  fact  getting  known,  it  had  led  to  other  new  contrivances  being  devised 
and  insisted  on,  with  an  utter  disturbance  of  the  usual  conditions.  He  never 
could  be  sure  beforehand  that  a  a  a  nee  would  succeed  (the  manifestations  being 
wholly  out  of  his  own  power  or  control),  and  the  failure  of  a  test  imposed  by  the 
investigator  was  regarded  as  more  suspicious  than  many  merely  weak  and  incon¬ 
clusive  seances  under  ordinary  conditions.  (See  also  Slade’s  letter  to  the  Times, 
page  07  post.)  There  is  also  the  fact,  well  recognized  among  Spiritualists,  that 
the  influence  of  some  persons  is  far  more  favorable  to  the  evolution  of  phe¬ 
nomena  through  mediums  than  that  of  others.  One  investigator  will  witness  the 
most  extraordinary  manifestations  at  his  first  * entice,  whereas  another  will  be 
long  in  obtaining  anything  like  satisfactory  evidence,  as  was  the  case  with  myself 
before  I  saw  Slade.  This  interaction  of  medium  and  sitter  is  a  fact  that  should 
never  be  left  out  of  sight ;  especially  in  estimating  testimony  to  facts  far  exceed¬ 
ing  our  own  or  general  experience  of  similar  phenomena.  It  by  no  means  fol¬ 
lowed  from  Profess®  Zollner’s  success  in  nearly  all  the  experiments  he  insti¬ 
tuted  with  Slade,  that  another  man  of  science,  of  perhaps  altogether  different 
constitution,  physical  or  psychical,  would  be  equally  fortunate.  The  true  cause 
of  scientific  complaint  against  Prof.  Virchow  appears  to  be  that  he  would  not 
even  in  the Jir.it  instance  witness  the  phenomena  under  the  ordinary  condition3of 
their  occurrence  ;  assuming  that  there  could  be  only  one  mode  of  demonstrating 
them  to  be  genuine,  or  that,  out  of  many  modes,  that  which  occurred  to  him  must 
also  be  agreeable  to  nature.  Probably  he  only  thought  how  he  could  baffle  a 
conjurer,  not  entertaining  the  possibility  that  the  very  course  and  natu.e  of  the 
phenomena  themselves  might  put  the  hypothesis  of  conjuring  out  of  the  ques¬ 
tion.—  Translator. 


slade’s  reply  to  professor  barrett.  75 

Slade  did  well  to  decline  Herr  Virchow’s  conditions:  for  in 
imposing  them  the  latter  had  given  proof  of  an  utter  ignorance  of 
the  subject  which  he  professed  his  willingness  to  engage  in.  The 
history  of  all  the  systems  of  fastening  by  which  mediums  have 
been  tortured  would  alone  fill  a  thick  volume.  The  Martyrology 
of  Mediums  is  a  book  of  the  future.  .  .  .  Professor  Virchow  need 
only  open  the  book  by  Colonel  Olcott  —  People  from  the  Other 
World — at  page  39,  to  see  a  pictorial  representation  of  the  tor¬ 
tures  to  which  mediums  have  been  subjected  in  the  name  of  sci¬ 
ence  and  truth.  There  is  represented  the  medium  Eddy,  with 
every  finger  of  the  hand  separately  fastened  by  a  string  nailed  to 
the  floor.  Eddy’s  hands  are  in  consequence  of  these  bindings,  to 
which  they  have  been  subjected  for  years,  quite  disfigured.  And 
have  all  these  bindings  ever  convinced  any  one  ?  The  conditions 
devised  by  Professor  Virchow  would  have  the  same  fate. 

“  Slade’s  great  merit  is  to  have  simplified  the  conditions  of  his 
seances  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is  sufficient  for  any  one  to  come 
to  him  armed  only  with  his  sound  senses  and  with  his  sound  reason 
to  be  convinced  —  if  he  will  be  convinced.  In  fact,  tbe  phenomena 
take  place  in  full  light,  and  while  the  medium’s  hands  and  feet 
are  held,*  or,  also,  when  the  medium  does  not  even  touch  the 
object  upon  which  the  mediuinistic  phenomena  are  accomplished, 
and  while  the  observer  does  not  cease  to  hold  both  his  hands,  and 
to  see  with  his  own  two  eyes !  What  more  is  necessary  ?  ” 

I  cannot  refrain  from  setting  down  here  the  letter,  full  of  sound 
manly  sense,  which  Mr.  Slade  sent  to  the  Times  in  London,  in 
reply  to  some  points  raised  by  Professor  Barrett  of  Dublin :  — 


•That  is,  when  Slade  does  not  himself  hold  the  slate  partly  under  the  table. 
He  is  always  willing  to  use  new  slates,  brought  by  the  visitor,  on  which  writing 
is  often  obtained  above  the  table.  The  luU  light  is  an  invariable  condition.  The 
most  conclusive  tests  cannot,  however,  be  insisted  on  arbitrarily,  at  once,  always, 
and  by  any  one,  but  are  usually  given  in  the  course  of  a  few  sittings. —  Trans 
LATOR. 


76 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


DR.  SLADE’S  ANSWER  TO  SOME  POINTS  OF  THE  LETTER  OF 
PROFESSOR  BARRETT. 

“  London,  8  Upper  Bedford  Place, 
“  September  22,  1876. 


“  Sir, —  In  Professor  Barrett’s  statements  published  in  the  Times 
to-day  I  think  he  erred  (I  hope  unintentionally)  in  saying:  — 
‘  Slade  failed  to  procure  the  writing  on  a  slate  enclosed,  along  with 
a  fragment  of  pencil,  in  a  sealed  box ;  he  also  failed  when  I  used 
a  box  with  a  tortuous  passage  to  allow  the  introduction  of  such 
bits  of  pencil  as  suited  his  fancy;  he  declined  to  try  and  get  writ¬ 
ing  within  a  hinged  slate  that  was  sealed,  but  succeeded  when  the 
hinged  slate  was  unfastened ;  and  again  he  failed,  according  to  the 
writer  of  an  article  in  the  Spectator,  when  a  spring  lock  was  used.’ 

“Instead  of  trying  to  obtain  writing  on  the  Professor’s  boxed 
slates,  I  declined  using  them  at  all.  I  assured  him  they  would 
not  be  used,  and  gave  him  my  reasons  for  objecting.  He  urged 
me  strongly  to  make  the  experiment,  and  placed  the  box  contain¬ 
ing  the  slate  on  the  table,  where  it  remained  undisturbed  until  he 
put  it  on  the  slate,  which  I  held,  with  the  box  on  it,  under  the 
table  for  a  short  time,  when,  as  I  had  hoped,  nothing  occurred. 
This  he  calls  a  failure. 

“  Mr.  Simmons  says  that  Professor  Barrett,  on  entering  the 
drawing-room  after  the  sitting,  told  him  that  Dr.  Slade  had 
refused  to  use  the  boxed  slates ;  that  he  had  left  them  in  the  room 
where  the  sitting  was  held,  hoping  he  (Dr.  Slade)  would  make  the 
trial  at  some  future  time. 

“  Having  had  at  least  fifteen  years’  experience  in  demonstrating 
the  fact  of  various  phenomena  occurring  in  my  presence,  I  claim 
to  know  something  of  the  conditions  required.  At  the  same  time 
I  do  not  know  how  they  are  produced.  I  do  not  object  to  persons 
bringing  an  ordinary  slate,  either  single  or  folding,  but  I  do  object 
to  using  locks,  boxes,  or  seals,  for  this  reason.  I  claim  to  be  as 
honest  and  earnest  in  this  matter  as  those  who  call  upon  me  for  the 


Slade’s  REPLY  TO  PROFESSOR  BARRETT. 


77 


purpose  of  investigation.  Therefore  I  shall  continue  to  object  to 
all  such  worthless  appliances  whenever  they  are  proposed. 

“  Mark  the  following,  which  Professor  Barrett  also  says : — 
*  Taking  a  clean  slate  on  both  sides,  I  placed  it  on  the  table  so 
that  it  rested  above,  though  it  could  not  touch,  a  fragment  of  slate- 
pencil.  In  this  position  I  held  the  slate  firmly  down  with  my 
elbow.  One  of  Slade’s  hands  was  then  grasped  by  mine,  and  the 
tips  of  the  fingers  of  his  other  hand  barely  touched  the  slate. 
While  closely  watching  both  of  Slade’s,  which  did  not  move  per¬ 
ceptibly,  I  certainly  was  much  astonished  to  hear  scratching  going 
on,  apparently  on  the  under  side  of  the  slate,  and  when  the  slate 
was  lifted  up  I  found  the  side  facing  the  table  covered  with  writ¬ 
ing.  He  also  says  a  similar  result  was  obtained  on  other  days; 
further,  an  eminent  scientific  friend  obtained  writing  on  a  clean 
slate  when  it  was  held  entirely  in  his  own  hand,  both  of  Slade’s 
being  on  the  table.’ 

“  The  above  being  true,  would  the  fact  of  the  writing  being  pro¬ 
duced  by  some  agency  foreign  to  myself  have  been  more  strongly 
established  had  it  occurred  on  the  Professor’s  boxed  slate  V  I 
think  the  reader  will  agree  with  me  in  saying  it  would  not. 

“  On  the  other  hand,  had  it  so  occurred  and  a  statement  of  it 
been  published,  it  would  only  have  served  as  an  incentive  for 
others  to  conjure  some  plan  whereby  they  might  prevent  an  occur¬ 
rence  of  phenomena,  instead  of  being  content  to  witness  them  in 
the  simple  manner  in  which  they  do  occur.  To  my  mind  it  would 
be  as  reasonable  to  sever  the  wire  and  then  ask  the  operator  to 
send  your  message  as  it  is  to  violate  the  conditions  which  experi¬ 
ence  has  taught  me  are  essential  in  these  experiments  in  order  to 
obtain  successful  results;  and  when  the  investigator  comes  in  the 
spirit  of  a  seeker  for  truth  instead  of  trying  to  prove  me  an  impos¬ 
tor,  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  unite  with  him  in  the  further  pursuit 
of  these  experiments. —  Very  truly  Yours, 

“Henry  Slade.” 


The  above  letter,  in  which  the  so  severely  calumniated  Ameri- 


78 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


can  medium  recalls  —  in  a  manner  no  less  urgent  than  civil  —  to 
the  recollection  of  our  modem  “  men  of  science  ”  the  first  rales  of 
experimentation  in  natural  science,  may  suffice  for  the  present  to 
afi’ord  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  intellectual  worth  of  the  man  who 
was  sentenced  to  three  months’  imprisonment  with  hard  labor,  on 
the  charge  of  fraud  brought  against  him  by  a  young  “man  of 
science.” 


CHAPTER  FIFTH  * 

PRODUCTION  OF  KNOTS  IN  AN  ENDLESS  STRING.— FURTHER  EXPERIMENTS. 
MATERIALIZATION  OF  HANDS.  —  DISAPPEARANCE  AND  REAPPEARANCE  OF 
SOLID  OBJECTS.— A  TABLE  VANISHES,  AND  AFTERWARDS  DESCENDS  FROM  THE 
CEILING  IN  FULL  LIGHT. 

The  establishment  (  Constatirung )  of  physical  facts  falls  within 
the  domain  of  the  physicist;  and  if  men  of  such  distinguished  emi¬ 
nence  as  Wilhelm  Weber,  Fechner,  and  others,  after  thorough 
experimental  investigation,  publicly  attest  the  reality  of  such  facts, 
it  is  evidently  nothing  but  an  act  of  modern  presumption  for  unsci¬ 
entific  people,'  at  their  pleasure,  to  accept  as  facts  absurd  conjec¬ 
tures  concerning  the  possibility  of  trickery  without  more  inquiry, 
and  thus  to  deny  the  capacity  of  these  men  for  exact  observa¬ 
tions. 

I  have  already  described  in  detail  the  conditions  under  which 
the  knots  (represented  in  Plate  I.)  occurred  in  the  string  fastened 
by  a  seal,  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Slade,  without  the  string  being 
touched.  Every  possibility  that  these  knots  were  in  the  string 
already,  before  the  sealing  of  the  ends,  and  had  only  been  brought  to 
another  part  of  the  same  by  pushing,  is  hereby  definitely  excluded. 

It  will  in  the  first  place  interest  my  readers  to  learn  that  this 
experiment  succeeded  four  months  later  in  London  in  presence  of 
another  medium.  Under  the  title,  “Remarkable  Physical  Mani¬ 
festations,”  Dr.  Nichols  has  published  the  following  in  two  letters 
to  the  Loudon  Spiritualist  of  April  12th  and  19th,  1878:  — 


AOh.,  Vol.  ii.,  part  2,  p.  1105. 


(79) 


80 


TRANSCENDENTAL  IHIYSICS. 


REMARKABLE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS. 

“It  may  seem  tiresome  to  you  to  repeat  facts,  and  cumulate 
evidence,  but  this  appears  to  be  the  only  way  to  convince  the  skep¬ 
tical.  Then  you  are  to  consider  that  each  number  of  the  Spiritu¬ 
alist  falls  into  the  hands  of  some  who  have  seen  no  other.  So  I 
give  you  some  facts  new  to  me,  though  they  may  be  familiar  to 
you  and  most  of  your  readers. 

“Busy  at  my  writing  the  other  day  in  my  study,  at  about  two 
p.m.,  the  housekeeper  came  with  her  eyes  ‘round’  with  wonder, 
and  begged  me  to  go  instantly  to  the  drawing-room  over  my  head. 
It  seemed  an  urgent  case,  and  I  ran  up  stairs  and  found  every 
chair  but  three  turned  upside  down;  the  large  and  heavy  sofa 
lying  forward  in  the  room,  legs  upward;  and  the  upright  piano¬ 
forte  prone  upon  the  carpet,  flat  upon  its  face. 

“The  windows  are  sixteen  feet  from  the  ground;  no  person  in 
the  house  had  visited  the  room  that  morning;  no  one  could  by  any 
possibility  have  come  in  from  the  street  to  do  this  work,  and  it  cer¬ 
tainly  was  not  done  by  any  of  the  inmates  of  the  house ;  at  my 
desk  I  can  hear  every  footstep  in  the  drawing-room ;  in  a  word,  it 
is  certain  that  no  visible  being  had  done  it.  It  required  two 
strong  men  to  lift  up  the  pianoforte  and  restore  it  to  its  proper 
position.  The  bouleversement  seems  to  have  been  accomplished 
while  most  of  the  family  were  at  lunch,  between  one  and  two 
o’clock;  with  them  were  Mr.  W.  Eglinton  and  Mr.  A.  Colman. 
Mrs.  Nichols  was  with  them  at  table,  and  reports  that,  as  they 
were  conversing,  loud  raps  responded,  and  the  heavy  table  loaded 
with  dishes,  when  no  one  touched  it,  rose  up  some  inches  from  the 
floor,  and  so  remained,  while  she  stooped  down  to  see  that  all  its 
feet  were  in  the  air.  This  is  common  enough  in  the  presence  of 
mediums,  but  the  very  powerful  action  in  the  drawing-room,  in  the 
light  of  mid-day,  with  no  person  near,  seems  to  me  novel  and 
remarkable. 

“I  gave  you  some  account,  I  think,  of  chairs  being  ‘threaded’ 


MANIFESTATIONS  IN  A  PUYSICIAN’s  UOUSE. 


81 


on  the  arms  of  persons  while  they  were  firmly  holding  the  hands  of 
others.  This  is  as  great  a  wonder  as  that  reported  by  the  German 
astronomer  at  Leipsic, —  the  tying  of  knots  in  a  cord,  the  ends  of 
which  were  sealed  together.  I  have  seen  the  chairs  on  the  arms 
of  seven  persons,  whose  word  I  could  perfectly  trust,  but  I  wished 
to  make  assurance  doubly  sure;  so  at  a  recent  seance  I  tied  the 
two  wrists  together  with  cotton  thread.  In  three  seconds  the 
chair  was  hanging  upon  the  arm  of  one,  and  I  found  the  thread 
unbroken.  I  then  held  the  hand  of  Mr.  Eglinton  as  firmly  as  pos¬ 
sible  in  mine,  and  in  an  instant  the  chair,  one  of  our  cane  bottoms 
with  bent  backs,  was  hanging  on  my  arm.  This,  beyond  all  doubt, 
was  matter  passing  through  matter,  but  whether  the  wood  passed 
through  flesh  and  bone,  or  flesh  and  bone  through  wood,  I  have 
not  yet  been  able  to  determine. 

“  On  Saturday,  by  special  appointment,  four  of  us  sat  at  noon, 
Eglinton,  Colman,  Mrs.  Nichols,  and  myself.  Supposing  there 
might  be  writing  or  drawing,  I  laid  a  sheet  of  marked  note-paper 
and  pencil  on  the  table  around  which  we  sat.  It  is  a  small  room, 
and  sitting  in  a  good  light  we  heard  a  slight  noise  of  something 
moving,  of  light  raps  or  knocks  in  one  corner.  Looking,  we  all 
saw  a  light  cane-bottom  chair,  about  six  feet  from  the  table,  tilting 
itself  on  two  legs,  rocking  backward  and  forward,  tilting  back  and 
balancing  on  its  hinder  legs,  answering  our  questions  with  its  move¬ 
ments;  and  finally,  at  our  request,  it  walked  forward  on  two  of  its 
legs  and  placed  itself  at  the  table,  pressed  against  my  knee  caress¬ 
ingly,  and  behaved  in  all  respects  like  a  chair  gifted  with  sense 
and  locomotion.  It  was  a  weird  spectacle  ;  but  it  was  also  a  very 
interesting  fact,  seen  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  by  four  persons, 
without  the  possibility  of  trick  or  hallucination.  I  examined  the 
chair  carefully,  though  it  was  quite  needless  to  do  so,  for  no  con¬ 
ceivable  machinery  could,  under  the  circumstances,  have  produced 
the  phenomenon. 

“Then  the  light  was  turned  off  for  a  minute  or  so,  during  which 
we  heard  rapid  movements  of  a  pencil,  and  on  relighting  the  gas, 
we  found  on  the  marked  sheet  of  paper  the  portrait  of  a  deceased 


82 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


friend,  and  a  letter  of  more  than  a  page  in  the  well-known  hand¬ 
writing  of  a  beloved  child  whose  spirit  often  visits  us.  I  have 
now  from  her  hand  five  elaborate  drawings  and  four  letters,  no  one 
of  which  occupied  two  minutes  under  absolute  test  conditions.  No 
living  artist  could  make  them  in  from  ten  to  twenty  times  the  time 
occupied  in  their  production. 

“  Your  readers  may  be  glad  to  know  that,  on  the  night  of  April 
7th,  we  had  repeated,  in  my  house,  in  the  presence  of  six  persons, 
including  Mr.  W.  Eglinton  and  Mr.  A.  Colman,  Professor  Zoll- 
ner’s  marvel  of  tying  knots  in  a  cord,  the  ends  of  which  were  tied 
and  sealed  together.  I  have  the  sealed  cord,  which  I  prepared 
myself,  with  the  knotted  ends  firmly  sealed  to  my  card,  on  which 
the  fingers  of  every  person  present  rested  while  five  knots  were 
tied,  about  a  foot  apart,  in  the  central  portion  of  the  cord.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  this  splendid  manifestation  can  be  repeated  at  any 
time  under  like  conditions. 

“  April  12th,  1878.” 

TYING  KNOTS  IN  AN  ENDLESS  CORD. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  “  Spiritualist,”  April  19 th,  1878. 

“  Sir, —  I  am  sorry  to  learn  that  my  account  of  the  repetition  in 
London  of  the  great  Leipsic  experiment,  of  tying  knots  in  a  cord 
whose  ends  were  firmly  sealed  together,  was  not  so  accurate  as 
should  have  been  the  record  of  so  astounding  a  phenomenon. 

“  Permit  me  to  say,  therefore,  that  after  reading  the  account  by 
Professor  Zollner  in  the  Daily  Telegraph,  I  asked,  at  the  first 
opportunity,  our  spirit-friend,  ‘  Joey,’  if  he  could  do  the  same  thing 
here.  He  said,  ‘  We  will  try.’ 

“  I  then  cut  four  yards  of  common  brown  twine  —  such  as  I  use 
for  large  book  packets — from  a  fresh  ball,  examined  it  carefully, 
tied  the  two  ends  together  by  a  single  knot,  which  included  both, 
then  passed  each  end  through  a  hole  in  my  visiting  card,  tied  a 
square  knot,  and  firmly  scaled  this  knot  to  the  card,  and  asked  a 


KNOT  EXPERIMENT  WITH  ANOTHER  MEDIUM. 


83 


gentleman  to  seal  it  with  his  seal  ring.  On  this  card  I  also  put 
my  signature  and  the  date.  The  loop  of  the  string,  whose  two 
ends  were  thus  sealed  on  the  card,  I  again  examined,  and  found  it 
free  from  knots. 

“  Six  persons,  including  Mr.  Eglinton  and  Mr.  Colman,  sat 
round  a  small  table.  The  sealed  card  was  placed  on  the  centre  of 
the  table,  and  the  fingers  of  each  person  present  placed  upon  it, 
while  the  loop  hung  down  upon  the  floor. 

“  This  position  was  maintained  for  about  a  minute,  when  raps 
were  heard,  and  I  examined  the  string.  The  ends  were  firmly 
fastened  and  sealed  as  before,  and  five  single  knots  were  tied  upon 
it,  about  a  foot  apart  —  on  the  single  endless  string,  observe, 
whose  perfect  fastening  had  never  left  my  sight  —  where  they  now 
remain. 

“  It  is  certain  that  no  mortal  man  could  have  tied  these  knots, — 
equally  certain  that  all  the  philosophers  and  all  the  ‘  magicians  ’  of 
Europe  cannot  now  unite  them  under  the  same  conditions. 

“  Here  is  a  fact  which  can  be  proven  in  any  court  of  justice,  and 
for  which  any  conceivable  number  of  dimensions  of  space  cannot 
account. 

“T.  L.  Nichols,  M.D. 

“32  Fopstone  Road,  London,  S.  W.” 

I  now  pass  on  to  relate,  from  my  numerous  successful  experi¬ 
ments  from  Mr.  Slade,  during  his  further  presence  in  Leipsic  from 
4th  to  10th  May,  1878,  those  in  the  first  place  which  represent  a 
modification  of  the  experiments  with  knots,  and  which  may  be 
regarded  as  an  experimental  confirmation  of  the  reality  of  a  fourth 
dimension  of  space. 

At  his  third  residence  in  Leipsic,  Mr.  Slade  had  again  received 
the  hospitable  invitation  of  my  friend  Oscar  von  Hoffmann,  and 
therefore  lived  in  his  house  during  the  time  from  the  2nd  to  the 
10th  of  May.  To  protect  him  from  the  rudeness  of  the  learned 
and  the  unlearned  public  (scientific  and  unscientific  people),  as 
well  as  of  the  press,  and  to  prevent  a  possible  repetition  here  of 


84 


EXPERIMENTAL  PHYSICS. 


Ins  expulsion  by  the  police  *  at  the  demand  of  the  public,  we  had 
taken  care,  as  at  his  second  visit  in  December  of  last  year,  wholly 
to  seclude  him  from  the  public. 

As  regards  the  following  experiments  with  Mr.  Slade,  I  describe 
them  in  tbe  first  place  for  physicists,  that  is,  for  scientific  men  who 
are  competent  to  understand  my  other  physical  investigations  and 
experiments,  to  which,  during  the  space  of  twenty  years,  I  have 
given  publicity  in  scientific  journals.  Such  men  alone  are  able  to 
form  an  independent  judgment,  on  the  ground  of  my  antecedent 
work,  as  to  bow  far  confidence  should  be  extended  to  me  as  a 
physical  experimentalist.  For  though  the  theoretical  considera¬ 
tions —  by  which  the  facts  of  observation  so  imparted  by  me  dur¬ 
ing  that  space  have  been  connected  hitherto  —  deviate  in  many 
respects  from  my  own,  the  facts  themselves  so  observed  by  me 
have  up  to  this  time  received  only  confirmation  in  their  entirety. 
As  regards  such  men,  also,  who  on  the  ground  of  my  labors  here¬ 
tofore  are  able  to  form  jtheir  own  independent  judgment  on  my  relia¬ 
bility  and  credibility,  I  am  relieved  from  the  useless  trouble  of 
describing  more  minutely  and  circumstantially  than  is  necessary 
for  intellectual  and  scientific  men  the  conditions  under  which  the 
following  phenomena  were  observed  by  me.  Suppose,  for  exam¬ 
ple,  I  observed  during  a  physical  investigation  (as  in  that  con¬ 
cerning  the  electric  fluid)  deviations  of  the  magnetic  needle  under 
hitherto  unusual  conditions.  If  now  a  physicist,  wishing  to  bring 
my  observations  into  contempt,  were  to  suggest  that  I  had  perhaps 
accidentally  had  a  magnetic  knife  on  the  table,  or  had  not  duly 
taken  into  account  the  daily  variations  of  the  earth’s  magnetism, 
such  suppositions  might  be  entertained  with  respect  to  a  student 
or  beginner  in  the  province  of  physical  observations,  but  I  myself 
should  feel  them,  coming  from  a  scientific  colleague,  as  an  insult, 
and  should  hold  it  beneath  my  dignity  as  a  physicist  to  reply  to 
them.f 

*That  had  happened  at  Vienna. —  Tn. 

t  The  above  protest  recalls  that  of  Mr.  Crookes,  “  in  referring  to  a  suggestion 
ttiat,  in  his  researches  with  Mr.  Home,  he  had  possibly  allowed  the  latter  to  sup¬ 
ply  a  board  forming  an  essential  part  of  the  apparatus  employed.” 


KNOTTING  TOGETHER  OF  LEATHER  BANDS. 


85 


I  assume  entirely  the  same  position  in  describing  the  following 
experiments  with  Mr.  Slade,  which  I  conducted  partly  alone,  partly 
in  company  with  my  above-named  friend,  Oscar  von  Hoffmann,  as 
in  describing  the  greater  number  of  my  former  physical  investiga¬ 
tions. 

With  respect  to  the  preposterous  demand,  on  entering  a  new, 
and  tc  us  wholly  unfamiliar,  province  of  physical  phenomena,  to 
impose  a  priori  conditions  under  which  these  phenomena  “ought” 
to  occur,  I  refer  to  the  strictures  contained  in  the  above  letter  of 
Slade,  and  in  the  previous  remarks  of  Herr  Axsakow  to  Herr 
Gekeimrath  Virchow  at  Berlin  on  the  first  principles  of  exact 
investigation.  After  this  necessary  preface  I  pass  on  to  describe 
some  experiments  which  I  had  devised  with  a  view  to  the  confir¬ 
mation  of  my  space-theory. 

The  experiments  formerly  described  (17th  December,  1878) 
with  the  knotted  cord  suggest  two  explanations,  according  as  one 
supposes  a  space  of  three  or  of  four  dimensions.  In  the  first  case 
there  must  have  been  a  so-called  passage  of  matter  through  mat¬ 
ter;  or,  in  other  words,  the  molecules  of  which  the  cord  consists 
must  have  been  separated  in  certain  places,  and  then,  after  the  other 
portion  of  cord  had  been  passed  through,  again  united  in  the  same 
position  as  at  first.  In  the  second  case  the  manipulation  of  the 
flexible  cord  being,  according  to  my  theory,  subject  to  the  laws  of 
a  four-dimensional  region  of  space,  such  a  separation  and  re-union 
of  molecules  would  not  be  necessary.  The  cord  would,  however, 
certainly  undergo  during  the  process  an  amount  of  twisting  which 
would  be  discernible  after  the  knots  were  tied.  I  had  not  paid 
attention  to  tills  circumstance  in  December  last  year,  and  had  not 
examined  the  cords  with  regard  to  the  size  and  direction  of  the 
twist.  The  following  experiment,  however,  which  took  place  on 

“Is  it  seriously  expected,”  says  Mr.  Crookes,  “that  I  should  answer  such  a 
question  as  ‘did  Mr.  Home  furnish  the  board?’  Will  not  my  critics  give  me 
credit  for  the  possession  of  some  amount  of  common  sense?  And  can  they  not 
imagine  that  obvious  precautions,  which  occur  to  them  as  soon  as  they  sit  down 
to  pick  holes  in  my  experiments,  are  not  unlikely  to  have  also  occurred  to  me 
in  the  course  of  prolonged  and  patient  investigation?” — Tit. 


8G 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


tho  8th  of  May  this  year,  in  a  sitting  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour’s 
duration  with  Mr.  Slade  in  a  well-lighted  room,  furnishes  an 
answer  to  the  above  question  in  favor  of  the  four-dimensional 
theory  without  separation  of  material  particles. 

The  experiment  was  as  follows:  —  I  took  two  hands  cut  out  of 
soft  leather,  44  centimetres  long,  and  from  5  to  10  millimetres 
broad,  and  fastened  the  ends  of  each  together,  as  formerly  described 
with  the  cords,  and  sealed  them  with  my  own  seal.  The  two 
leather  bands  were  laid  separately  on  the  card-table  at  which  we 
sat;  the  seats  were  placed  opposite  to  one  another,  and  I  held  my 
hands  over  the  bands  (as  shown  on  Plate  II.).  Slade  sat  at  my 
left  side,  and  placed  his  right  hand  gently  over  mine,  I  being  able 
to  feel  the  leather  underneath  all  the  time.  Slade  asserted  that 
he  saw  lights  emanating  from  my  hands,  and  could  feel  a  cool  wind 
over  them.  I  felt  the  latter,  but  could  not  see  the  lights.  Pres¬ 
ently,  while  I  still  distinctly  felt  the  cool  breeze,  and  Slade’s  hands 
were  not  touching  mine,  but  were  removed  from  them  about  two 
or  three  decimeters,  I  felt  a  movement  of  the  leather  bands  under 
my  hands.  Then  came  three  raps  in  the  table,  and  on  removing 
my  hands  the  two  leather  bands  were  knotted  together.  The  twist¬ 
ing  of  the  leather  is  distinctly  seen  in  Plate  II.  (copied  from  a 
photograph).  The  time  that  the  bands  were  under  my  hands  was 
at  most  three  minutes.  A  pair  of  unconnected  strips  of  leather 
are  also  represented  on  the  Plate  for  clearness  of  apprehension. 

Much  pleased,  I  examined  the  connected  strips  of  leather  for  a 
long  time  with  my  friends.  I  then  took  a  slate  myself,  and  held 
it  with  my  right  hand  under  the  table,  in  order  to  repeat  the 
experiment  which  had .  succeeded  with  the  Grand  Duke  Constan¬ 
tine  of  Russia.*  While  now,  as  I  did  so,  Slade’s  hands,  continually 
visible  to  me,  lay  quietly  on  the  table,  there  appeared  suddenly 
a  large  hand  close  in  front  of  me,  emerging  from  under  the  edge 
of  the  table.  All  the  lingers  of  the  hand  moved  quickly,  and  I  was 
able  to  observe  them  accurately  during  a  space  of  at  least  two  min- 


*  Ante,  p.  43. 


Plate  IT. 


(Copied  from  a  Photograph.) 


VISIBLE  AND  TANGIBLE  HANDS. 


89 


utes.  The  color  of  the  hand  was  pale  and  inclined  to  an  olive-green. 
And  now  while  I  continually  saw  Slade’s  hands  lying  before  me 
on  the  table,  and  he  himself  sat  at  the  table  on  my  left,  the  above- 
mentioned  hand  rose  suddenly  as  quick  "as  an  arrow,  still  higher, 
and  grasped  with  a  powerful  pressure  my  left  upper-arm  for  over 
a  minute  long.  As  my  attention  was  wholly  occupied  in  the 
observation  of  the  strange  hand,  and  the  grip  upon  my  left  upper 
arm  happened  so  suddenly,  forcibly,  and  unexpectedly,  I  am  not 
able  to  say  anything  concerning  the  condition  of  the  arm  which 
connected  the  hand  with  the  edge  of  the  table.  When  this  hand 
had  disappeared, —  Slade’s  hands  lying  on  the  table  after  as  before, 
■ — I  was  so  violently  pinched  on  my  right  hand,  which  during 
these  four  minutes  was  all  along  holding  the  above-mentioned  slate 
under  the  table,  that  I  could  not  help  crying  out.  With  this  mani¬ 
festation  the  extraordinary  sitting  closed. 

To  complete  the  account  of  the  phenomena  of  visible  and  tangi¬ 
ble  human  hands  which  occurred  the  year  before  in  presence  of 
my  friends  and  colleagues,  Feclmer,  W.  Weber,  and  Scheibner,  I 
may  mention  in  addition  that  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  Decem¬ 
ber,  1877,  at  half-past  ten  o’clock,  while  W.  Weber  and  I  were 
again  engaged  with  Slade  in  the  above-mentioned  magnetic  experi¬ 
ments,  suddenly  Weber’s  coat  was  unbuttoned  under  the  table, 
his  gold  watch  was  taken  from  his  waistcoat  pocket,  and  was  placed 
gently  in  his  right  hand,  as  he  held  it  under  the  table.  During 
this  proceeding,  which  occupied  about  three  minutes,  and  was 
described  exactly  in  its  particular  phases  by  Weber,  Mr.  Slade’s 
hands  were,  be  it  understood,  before  our  eyes  upon  the  table,  and 
his  legs  crossed  sideways  in  such  a  position  that  any  employment 
of  them  was  out  of  the  question.  The  sitting  took  place  in  my 
residence,  in  the  corner  room  lighted  by  four  large  windows,  as 
already  described. 

Those  who  seek  to  explain  the  phenomena  described  here,  tad 
proved  also  at  other  places  by  reliable  observers,  of  visible  and 
tangible  human  limbs,  by  suppositions  of  possible  deception  by 
means  of  gutta-percha  bands,  and  so  forth,  treat  the  matter  without 


90 


TRANSCKNDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


consideration,  since  they  judge  of  phenomena  which  they  have 
neither  seen  nor  examined  referably  to  the  conditions  of  their 
occurrence.  That  such  visible  and  tangible  human  limbs  can, 
under  suitable  circumstances,  leave  behind  visible  impressions,  as, 
for  instance  on  flour  or  sooted  paper,  will  no  longer  appear  sur¬ 
prising  after  the  last-mentioned  facts.* 

Should  the  foregoing  experiments  have  afforded  proof  that  there 
are,  outside  our  perceptible  world  of  three  dimensions,  things  fur¬ 
nished  with  all  the  attributes  of  corporeity  which  can  appear  in 
three-dimensional  space  and  then  vanish  therefrom,  without  our 
being  able,  from  the  standpoint  of  our  present  space-perception,  to 
answer  the  questions  whence  they  come  and  whither  they  go,  then 
should  the  following  experiment  complete  this  proof,  by  establish¬ 
ing  the  appearance  and  disappearance  of  bodies  which  do,  in  fact, 
belong  to  our  three-dimensional  world  of  space.  I  have  already 
mentioned  (p.  56)  the  disappearance  and  reappearance  of  a  small 
cardboard  thermometer-case,  and  also  (p.  66)  the  sudden  appear¬ 
ance  of  a  piece  of  coal  and  of  wood  at  a  particular  place  where 
these  bodies  had  not  previously  been.  Similar  and  almost  more 
surprising  phenomena  happened  during  Slade’s  residence  at  Vienna. 
Baron  von  Hellenbacli  writes  me  as  follows :  — 

“  The  disappearance  of  the  book  was  only  superficially  treated 
in  my  pamphlet,!  since  therein  I  only  concerned  myself  with 
those  occurrences  which  took  place  beyond  the  reach  of  Slade’s 
limbs,  as  I  wished  to  meet  the  thoughtless  objection,  “  He  did  it 
somehow.”  The  thing  happened  in  the  following  manner:  Slade 
laid  a  book  and  a  bit  of  pencil  (at  a  spot  exactly  marked)  on  the 
slate,  which  he  then  conveyed  under  the  surface  of  the  table.  The 
book  vanished,  and  having  often  been  looked  for  everywhere,  fell 

*1  may  here  call  attention  to  the  results  obtained  in  London  by  one  of  our 
countrymen,  Herr  Christian  Reimers,  and  published  in  “  Psychische  Stu/lien" 
which  results,  obtained  partly  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Alfred  Russel  Wallace, 
justify  the  boldest  expectations  for  the  future. 

t  “  Mr.  Slade's  Ilexidence  in  Vienna.  An  open  letter  to  my  friends.”  (Anonym.) 
Vienna.  Trinted  and  published  by  T.  C.  Fisher  &  Co.,  1878.  Compare  also  “Indi¬ 
vidualism  in  the  Light  of  the.  Biology  and  Philosophy  of  the  Present ,”  by  Lazar  B. 
Hellenbacli,  Vienna,  1878  (Braumaller). 


A  BOOK  VANISHES  AND  REAPPEARS. 


91 


several  times  from  the  ceiling  of  the  room  upon  the  table,  between 
the  globes  of  the  three-branch  chandelier.  Once  it  struck  the 
chain  off  the  roller  by  which  the  chandelier  was  drawn  up.  A 
projection  by  the  hand  under  the  table  is  altogether  impossible, 
since  a  projected  book  cannot  describe  this  curve.  Slade’s  upper 
and  under  arm  were  visible  and  quiet,  and  a  projection  by  the  foot 
would  as  certainly  have  been  remarked  as  the  rise  of  the  book. 
The  experiment  was  too  often  repeated,  and  our  attention  was  too 
great.  I  regard  as  very  important  a  demonstration  on  your  part 
of  a  similar  disappearance ;  for  if  the  seen  and  felt  ascent  of  the 
slate  at  my  foot  proves  an  unperceived  mechanical  agency,  and 
the  production  of  knots  in  the  endless  cord  a  four-dimensional 
agency,  so  would  the  entrance  and  exit  of  an  object  prove  another 
space-dimension,  as  it  were  in  our  immediate  neighborhood,  in  so 
stupendous  a  manner  that  it  could  not  be  for  a  moment  doubted  in 
my  opinion,  which  is  that  our  illusion  of  consciousness  is  nothing 
but  a  three-dimensional  intuition  of  a  more-dimensional  world, 
brought  about  by  a  strange  organism.  Should  your  endeavors  be 
similarly  successful,  I  beg  you  kindly  to  inform  me. 

B.  IIellenbacu.” 

I  had  received  the  above  letter  at  eight  in  the  morning  of  the 
5th  of  May.  Without  having  mentioned  it  to  Slade  or  to  Herr 
0.  von  Hoffmann,  I  expressed  the  wish,  at  the  sitting  which  took 
place  with  Mr.  Slade  at  eleven  o’clock,  to  have  the  opportunity  of 
observing  again,  as  in  December  of  the  year  before,  the  disappear¬ 
ance  and  reappearance  of  a  material  body  in  some  very  striking 
manner.  Ready  at  once  for  the  experiment,  Slade  requested  Herr 
von  Hoffman  to  give  him  a  book;  the  latter  thereupon  took  from 
the  small  bookshelf  at  the  wall  a  book  printed  and  bound  in  octavo. 
Slade  laid  this  upon  a  slate,  held  the  same  partly  under  the 
edge  of  the  table,  and  immediately  withdrew  the  slate  again  with¬ 
out  the  book.  We  searched  the  card-table  carefully  everywhere, 
outside  and  inside.  So  also  we  searched  the  small  room,  but  all  in 
vain ;  the  book  had  vanished.  After  about  live  minutes  we  again 


TRANSCENDENTAL  niYSICS. 


OH 

took  our  places  at  the  table  for  the  purpose  of  further  observations, 
Slade  opposite  me,  Yon  Hoffmann  between  us  on  my  left.  We  had 
scarcely  sat  down  when  the  book  fell  from  the  ceiling  of  the  room 
on  to  the  table,  striking  my  right  ear  with  some  violence  in  its 
descent.  The  direction  in  which  it  came  down  from  above  seemed 
from  this  to  have  been  an  oblique  one,  proceeding  from  a  point 
above  and  behind  my  back.  Slade,  during  this  occurrence,  was 
sitting  in  front  of  me,  and  keeping  both  his  hands  quietly  on  the 
table.  He  asserted  shortly  before,  as  usual  on  occasions  of  simi¬ 
lar  physical  phenomena,  that  ho  saw  lights  hovering  in  the  air  or 
attached  to  bodies,  whereof,  however,  neither  my  friend  nor  myself 
were  ever  able  to  perceive  anything. 

In  the  sitting  of  the  following  day,  the  6th  May,  at  a  quarter- 
past  eleven,  by  bright  sunshine,  I  was  to  be  witness,  quite  unex¬ 
pectedly  and  unpreparedly,  of  a  yet  far  more  magnificent  phe¬ 
nomena  of  this  kind. 

I  had,  as  usual,  taken  my  place  with  Slade  at  the  card-table. 
Opposite  to  me  stood,  as  was  often  the  case  in  other  experiments, 
a.  small  round  table  near  the  card-table,  exactly  in  the  position 
shown  in  the  photograph  (taken  from  nature)  upon  Plate  III.  [see 
page  103  ,  illustrating  the  further  experiments  to  be  described 
below.  The  height  of  the  round  table  is  77  centimetres,  diameter 
of  the  surface  46  centimetres,  the  material  birchen-wood,  and  the 
weight  of  the  whole  table  4-5  kilogrammes.  About  a  minute 
might  have  passed  after  Slade  and  I  had  sat  down  and  laid  our 
hands  joined  together  on  the  table  when  the  round  table  was  set 
in  slow  oscillations,  which  we  could  both  clearly  perceive  in  the 
top  of  the  round  table  rising  above  the  card-table,  while  its  lower 
part  was  concealed  from  view  by  the  top  of  the  card-table. 

The  motions  very  soon  became  greater,  and  the  whole  table 
approaching  the  card-table  laid  itself  under  the  latter,  with  its 
three  feet  turned  towards  me.  Neither  I  nor,  as  it  seemed,  Mr. 
Slade,  knew  how  the  phenomenon  would  further  develop,*  since 

*The  movement  of  heavy  objects  without  any  possible  contact  by  Slade  was 
so  common  that  we  looked  on  the  movement  of  the  table  as  only  the  beginning 
of  a  further  succession  of  phenomena. 


A  TABLE  VANISHES  AND  REArPEARS. 


93 


during  the  space  of  a  minute  which  now  elapsed  nothing  whatever 
occurred.  Slade  was  about  to  take  slate  and  pencil  to  ask  his 
“  spirits  ”  whether  we  had  anything  still  to  expect,  when  I  wished 
to  take  a  nearer  view  of  the  position  of  the  round  table  lying,  as  I 
supposed,  under  the  card-table.  To  my  and  Slade’s  great  astonish¬ 
ment  we  found  the  space  beneath  the  card-table  completely  empty, 
nor  were  we  able  to  find  in  all  the  rest  of  the  room  that  table  which 
only  a  minute  before  was  present  to  our  senses.  In  the  expecta¬ 
tion  of  its  reappearance  we  sat  again  at  the  card-table,  Slade  close 
to  me,  at  the  same  angle  of  the  table  opposite  that  near  which  the 
round  table  had  stood  before.  We  might  have  sat  about  five  or 
six  minutes,  in  intense  expectation  of  what  should  come,  when  sud¬ 
denly  Slade  again  asserted  that  he  saw  lights  in  the  air.  Although 
I,  as  usual,  could  perceive  nothing  whatever  of  the  kind,  I  yet  fol¬ 
lowed  involuntarily  with  my  gaze  the  directions  to  which  Slade 
turned  his  head,  during  all  which  time  our  hands  remained  con¬ 
stantly  on  the  table,  linked  together  (iiber-einander  liegend )  ■ 
under  the  table,  my  left  leg  was  almost  continually  touching 
Slade’s  right  in  its  whole  extent,  which  was  quite  without  design, 
and  owing  to  our  proximity  at  the  same  comer  of  the  table.  Look¬ 
ing  up  in  the  air  eagerly  and  astonished,  in  different  directions, 
Slade  asked  me  if  I  did  not  perceive  the  great  lights.  I  answered 
decidedly  in  the  negative ;  but  as  I  turned  my  head,  following 
Slade’s  gaze  up  to  the  ceiling  of  the  room  behind  my  back,  I  sud¬ 
denly  observed,  at  a  height  of  about  five  feet,  the  hitherto  invisi¬ 
ble  table  with  its  legs  turned  upwards  very  quickly  floating  down 
in  the  air  upon  the  top  of  the  card-table.  Although  we  involun¬ 
tarily  drew  back  our  heads  sideways,  Slade  to  the  left  and  I  to  the 
right,  to  avoid  injury  from  the  falling  table,  yet  we  were  both, 
before  the  round  table  had  laid  itself  down  on  the  top  of  the  card 
table,  so  violently  struck  on  the  side  of  the  head,  that  I  felt  the 
pain  on  the  left  of  mine  fully  four  hours  after  this  occurrence, 
which  took  place  at  about  half-past  eleven. 


CHAPTER  SIXTH. 


THEORETICAL  CONSIDERATIONS.— PROJECTED  EXPERIMENTS  FOR  PROOF  OF 
THE  FOURTH  DIMENSION.— THE  UNEXPECTED  IN  NATURE  AND  LIFE.— SCHO¬ 
PENHAUER’S  “TRANSCENDENT  FATE.” 

The  foregoing  facts  of  observation  are  thus  empirically  at  vari¬ 
ance  with  the  dogma  of  the  unchangeableness  of  the  quantity  of 
matter  in  our  three-dimensional  world.*  Since,  however,  that 
dogma  of  the  constancy  of  substance  cannot  derive  its  dogmatic 
character  from  experience,  but  merely  from  the  principles  of  our 
reason ,  which  are  inherent  in  our  mind  just  as  in  the  a  priori  law 
of  causality,  that  is  to  say,  before  all  experience,  there  is  thus 
imposed  on  our  reason  the  task  of  freeing  our  understanding  from 
the  above  contradiction  between  the  facts  of  observation  and  a 
principle  of  our  reason.  I  have  already  shown  in  detail,  in  the 
first  volume  of  these  treatises,  how  very  easily  this  problem  is 
solved  by  the  acceptance  of  a  fourth  dimension  of  space.  The 
table  which  disappeared  during  six  minutes  must  nevertheless  have 
existed  somewhere,  and  the  quantity  of  the  substance  constituting 
it  must,  according  to  the  above  principle  of  reason,  have  remained 
absolutely  constant.  If,  however,  we  can  only  answer  the  ques¬ 
tion  “where?”  by  assigning  a  place, —  and  it  has  been  empirically 
shown  that  this  "place  cannot  lie  in  the  region  of  space  of  three 
dimensions  perceptible  to  us, — -it  follows  of  necessity  that  the 
answering  of  the  question  “where?”  hitherto  so  easy  to  us,  must 

*Not  altogether,  as  it  might  be  suggested  that  the  vanished  objects  only 
assumed  a  gaseous  form, —  the  quantity  of  matter  thus  remaining  the  same,  as  in 
the  case  of  combustion. —  Tr. 

(94) 


THEORETICAL. 


95 


be  an  incomplete  answer,  and  therefore  one  both  requiring  and 
capable  of  amplification.  How  by  this  means  also  the  conception 
of  juxtaposition  obtains  an  extension  by  help  of  the  fourth  dimen¬ 
sion  of  absolute  space  I  have  already  above  explained  at  length  in 
a  note,*  to  which  I  may  refer  my  readers. 

So  also  I  have  already  shown  in  the  treatise  “  On  Action  at  a 
Distance,”  vol.  i.,  p.  269,  that  the  so  fruitful  “Axiom  of  the  Con¬ 
servation  of  Energy”  retains  all  its  validity  for  space  of  four 
dimensions,  while  at  another  place  I  remarked,  “  If  one  regards 
the  distance  of  two  atoms  and  the  intensity  of  their  interaction,  in 
our  three-dimensional  space,  as  projections  of  similar  magnitudes 
from  a  space  of  four  dimensions,  a  change  would  be  effected  in  the 
magnitudes,  form,  and  supply  of  kinetic  energy  of  the  three-dimen¬ 
sional  projection  (the  material  body)  simply  through  alterations 
in  the  relative  positions  of  the  four-dimensional  object,  without 
these  properties  in  the  latter  undergoing  any  change.  The  axiom 
oj  the  conservation  of  a  constant  amount  of  energy  thus  retains  its 
full  validity  for  space  of  four  dimensions,  nay,  on  closer  consid¬ 
eration,  it  is  even  the  premise  on  which  rests  the  correspondence 
of  the  extended  conceptions  of  space  to  physical  occurrences."  * 
To  the  considerations  offered  in  the  early  part  of  this  treatise 
concerning  the  “actual”  or  “real”  lying  at  the  ground  of  space, 
I  may  here  add  the  following  words  of  liieinann  :  f  — 

“  The  question  of  the  validity  of  the  postulates  of  geometry  in 
the  infinitely  little  is  connected  with  the  question  of  the  inner  prin¬ 
ciples  of  the  mass-relations  of  space.  In  this  question,  which  can 
well  be  accounted  as  still  belonging  to  the  doctrine  of  space,  the 
above  observation  has  the  application  that  in  a  discrete  diversity 
( Mannigfaltigkeit )  the  principle  of  mass-relations  is  already  con¬ 
tained  in  the  conception  of  this  diversity,  whereas,  in  a  continuous 
diversity,  this  principle  must  come  to  it  from  without  ganders 
welter  kinzukommen  muss).  Thus,  either  the  reality  underlying 

*Ante,  p.  69. 

tRiemann’s  collected  mathematical  and  posthumous  scientific  works,  edited, 
With  the  assistance  of  R.  Dedekind,  by  H.  Weber,  Leipsic  :  (Teubner),  1876. 


9G 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


space  must  form  a  discrete  diversity  or  the  principle  of  mass-rela¬ 
tions  must  bo  sought  without  ( ausserhalb *)  in  binding  forces 
acting  thereon  ( indarauf  wirkenden  hindenden  Kraften). 

“  Tlio  decision  of  these  questions  can  only  be  found  by  tran¬ 
scending  the  hitherto  empirical  conception  of  phenomena  of  which 
Newton  established  the  principle,  and,  impelled  by  facts  which 
cannot  be  explained  by  it,  gradually  reforming  this  conception. 
Such  researches,  which,  like  the  present,  transcend  common  con¬ 
ceptions,  can  only  serve  to  prevent  this  work  being  hindered  by 
the  narrowness  of  ideas  and  advance  in  knowledge  of  the  con¬ 
nection  of  things  being  impeded  by  traditional  prejudices.  This 
carries  us  over  into  the  province  of  another  science,  that  of  Physics, 
which  is  not  permitted  by  the  nature  of  our  present  subject.” 

These  words  of  Riemann  prove  incontrovertibly  that  he,  as  one 
of  those  acute  founders  of  the  theory  of  an  extended  space-concep¬ 
tion,  recognized  as  thoroughly  necessary  the  introduction  ( Hinzu - 
zieliung )  of  physical  elements  ( Momente ),  that  is,  derived  from 
observed  facts,  t 

I  now  proceed  to  the  description  of  further  successful  experi¬ 
ments  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Slade,  which  will  partly  confirm  those 
already  mentioned,  partly  establish  them  more  thoroughly  by  new 
modifications. 

In  order  to  exclude  as  far  as  possible  the  dependence  of  to  us 
inexplicable  phenomena  upon  human  testimony,  I  desired  to  devise 


•The  word  “  ausserhalb  ”  in  relation  to  the  whole  circuit  of  the  three-dimen¬ 
sional  region  of  space  given  perceptibly  to  us  has  only  one  sense,  if  for  the  cen¬ 
tre  of  those  “  binding  forces,  acting  thereon  ”  is  presupposed  a  fourth  dimension. 

t  The  recently  introduced  “  conception  of  solidity  ”  or  “  rigidity  ”  (der  Fatig- 
kf.it  oder  Sturrheit)  is  only  another  expression  for  this  physical  side  of  the  prob¬ 
lem.  For  though  the  geometrical  conception  of  solidity  can  bo  defined  as  the 
unchangeableness  of  the  distance  of  the  points  of  a  system  of  points,  yet  the 
intuition  underlying  this  “conception”  is  only  derived  from  experience,  just 
as  the  conception  of  motion  is  abstracted  from  experience.  Compare  Helmholtz 
“On  the  Origin  and  Meaning  of  Geometrical  Axioms”  ( Popular  Scientific 
E-.mu/s,  November  3rd,  187C).  So  Wilhelm  Fiedler,  “  Geometry  and  Geomechan¬ 
ics,”  in  the  “  Fourth  Yearly  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Natural  Philosophy  at 
Zurich,”  21st  yearly  vol.,  1876,  same  number  “  On  Symmetry  ”  by  Fiedler,  num¬ 
ber  2,  p.  18G  et  seg. 


PROJECTED  EXPERIMENTS. 


97 


experiments  such  that  the  permanent  effect,  as  final  result,  should 
he  completely  unexplainable  according  to  the  conceptions  we  have 
hitherto  entertained  of  the  laws  of  nature.  With  this  object,  I 
had  arranged  the  following  experiment :  — 

1.  Two  wooden  rings,  one  of  oak,  the  other  of  alderwood,  were 
each  turned  from  one  piece.*  The  outer  diameter  of  the  rings  was 
105  millimetres,  the  inner  74  millimetres.  Could  these  two  rings 
he  interlinked  without  solution  of  continuity,  the  test  would  be 
additionally  convincing  by  close  microscopic  examination  of  the 
unbroken  continuity  of  the  fibre.  Two  different  kinds  of  wood 
being  chosen,  the  possibility  of  cutting  both  rings  from  the  same 
piece  is  likewise  excluded.  Two  such  interlinked  rings  would  con¬ 
sequently  in  themselves  represent  a  “miracle,”  that  is,  a  phenome¬ 
non  which  our  conceptions  heretofore  of  physical  and  organic  pro¬ 
cesses  would  be  absolutely  incompetent  to  explain. 

2.  Since  among  products  of  nature,  the  disposition  of  whose 
parts  is  according  to  a  particular  direction,  as  with  snail-shells 
twisted  right  or  left,  this  disposition  can  be  reversed  by  a  four- 
dimensional  twisting  of  the  object,  I  had  provided  myself  with  a 
large  number  of  such  shells,  of  different  species,  and  at  least  two 
of  each  kind. 

3.  From  a  dried  gut,  such  as  is  used  in  t wine-factories,  a  band 
without  ends  {in  sick  geschlussenes )  was  cut,  of  a  breadth  of  from 
four  to  five  millimetres,  and  a  circuit  of  400  millimetres.  Should 
a  knot  be  tied  in  this  baud,  close  microscopic  examination  would 
also  reveal  whether  the  connection  of  the  parts  of  this  strip  had 
been  severed  or  not. 

4.  In  order  to  demonstrate  yet  more  evidently  the  so-called 
penetration  of  matter,  which  comes  in  question  in  all  these  experi¬ 
ments,  I  had  a  glass  ball,  enclosed  on  all  sides,  of  40  millimetres 
diameter,  blown  by  the  glass-manufacturer,  Herr  Gotze,  of  this 


♦Both  these  rings  I  received  in  February  of  this  year,  through  the  kindness  of 
Ilcrr  G.  Do  Liagre.  I  tako  this  opportunity  publicly  to  thank  this  gentleman, 
as  also  the  frequently-mentioned  Herr  Oscar  von  Hodman n,  for  their  energetic 
assistance  in  the  experiments  with  Mr.  Slade. 


08 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


place.  From  a  paraffin  caudle  I  liad  then  cut  off  with  a  sharp 
knife  a  piece  of  such  a  length  that  it  just  fell  short  of  that  of  the 
interior  of  the  ball.  I  asked  Herr  Gotze  if  he  thought  it  possible 
to  blow  a  glass  ball  of  the  prescribed  size  round  such  a  piece  of 
paraffin  provided  with  sharp  edges,  without  melting  the  paraffin, 
at  least  at  the  edges.  He  replied  most  decidedly  in  the  negative ; 
and,  even  independently  of  his  authority,  I  believe  I  do  not  risk 
contradiction  in  asserting  that  such  a  piece  of  paraffin  with  sharp 
un  molten  edges  in  the  interior  of  the  said  glass  ball  would  be, 
according  to  our  heretofore  limited  conception  of  the  laws  of  nature, 
an  inexplicable  miracle. 

The  foregoing  preparations  sufficiently  show  what  sort  of  phe¬ 
nomena  I  wished  to  see  in  Slade’s  presence.  Since,  however,  in 
the  course  of  more  than  thirty  sittings  with  Mr.  Slade,  I  had  come 
to  the  conviction  that  he  did  not  himself  “  do”  the  mysterious  things 
which  happeued  near  him,  I  could  not  rationally  demand  of  him 
that  he  should  “  show  ”  me  all  the  above-mentioned  experiments. 
Far  more  unreasonable  still  must  I  have  hence  considered  the 
desire  on  my  part  to  impose  “conditions”  on  Mr.  Slade,  under 
which  lie  should  effect  these  to  himself  inexplicable  proceedings. 
I  preferred  therefore  to  comport  myself  towards  Mr.  Slade  and  the 
phenomena  occurring  in  his  presence  just  as  I  did  towards  nature 
in  my  physical  discoveries  up  to  that  time,  or  to  the  previously 
anticipated  fall  of  meteors,  which  happened  when  our  earth 
crossed  the  path  of  Biela’s  comet,  on  the  27th  November,  1872.  I 
accordingly  remained  patient,  and  in  a  passive,  receptive  disposi¬ 
tion  for  the  things  which  should  come,  and  left  it  confidently  to 
nature  of  her  own  free-will  to  reveal  to  me  as  much  of  her  secrets 
as  seemed  fitting  to  her  without  blinding  my  intellectual  eyes  by 
the  splendor  of  her  majesty,  mindful  always  of  Goethe’s  words :  — • 

“  Geheimnissvoll  aus  lichtcn  Tag 
Lasst  sick  Nutur  des  Schleiers  nicht  berauben, 

Und  was  sie  deinem  Geist  nicht  offenbaren  mag. 

Das  Zwi  ,gst  da  ilir  nicht  ab  mit  Ilebeln  und  mit  Schrauben.”  * 


*  Faust  alone,  after  Wagner  had  left  him  with  the  words  •"  Zicar  weiss  ich  vicl. 


SCHOPENHAUER  ON  FATE. 


99 


“Inscrutable  in  noon-day’s  blaze, 

Nature  lets  no  one  tear  the  veil  away ; 

And  what  herself  she  does  not  choose 
Unasked  before  your  soul  to  lay, 

You  shall  not  wrest  from  her  by  levers  or  by  screws.” 

—  Theodore,  Martin’s  translation 

And  in  fact  I  know  no  better  comparison  whereby  to  indicate 
the  character  of  the  constantly  unexpected  occurrences  in  their 
succession  and  ingenious  connection  than  the  manner  in  which 
men  are  led  by  fate.  Seldom  happens  just  that  which  we,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  measure  of  our  limited  understanding,  wish ;  but  if, 
looking  back  on  the  course  of  some  years,  we  regard  what  has  actu¬ 
ally  come  to  pass,  we  recognize  gratefully  the  intellectual  superi¬ 
ority  of  that  Hand  which,  according  to  a  sensible  plan,  conducts 
our  fates  to  the  true  welfare  of  our  moral  nature,  aud  shapes  our 
life  dramatically  to  a  harmonic  whole.  Volentern  fata  ducunt , 
nolentem  trahunt,  says  an  old  proverb,  often  quoted  by  Schopen¬ 
hauer.  That  such  a  conception  of  the  significance,  and  of  the  inner 
intellectual  connection  of  our  fate,  does  not  merely  spring  from  an 
idealism  colored  by  optimism,  but  powerfully  imposes  itself  even  on 
a  pessimist  with  sufficiently  high  powers  of  understanding,  we  have 
the  most  striking  proof  in  Schopenhauer’s  treatise,  “  On  Apparent 
Design  in  the  Fate  of  the  Individual.”  (  Uber  die  anscheinendc 
Absichliclikeit  im  Schicksale  des  Einzelnen) .  He  says:  —  * 


dock  mocht  ich  alien  uissm  ”  (much,  it  is  true,  I  know:  yet  would  know  all).  In 
the  monologue  that  Follows,  Faust  expresses  his  sentiments  upon  that  “Famu¬ 
lus,”  and  doubtless  later  “professors,”  in  these  words:  — 

*•  Wie  nur  dem  Kopf  nicht  a  lie  IJoffnung  sc/noindet , 

Der  itnmer/orl  an  schalem  Zenge  l 'debt ; 

Mil  gier’ger  Hand  nach  Schdtzen  grabt, 

Und  froh  ist ,  teen  a  er  I legenicurmer  findet." 

“  Strange  that  all  hope  has  not  long  since  been  blighted, 

In  one  content  on  such  mere  chaff  to  feed; 

Who  digs  for  treasure  with  a  miser’s  greed, 

And  if  he  finds  a  muck-worm  is  delighted.” 

—  Theodore  Martin's  translation. 

•Parerga  and  I’aralipomena,  vol.  i.,  pp.  218,  219. 


100 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


“  At  all  events,  however,  the  perception,  or  rather  the  opinion, 
that  this  necessity  of  all  that  happens  is  no  blind  necessity,  thus 
the  belief  in  an  evolution  of  the  events  of  life  not  less  methodical 
than  necessary,  is  a  fatalism  of  a  higher  kind,  though  not  so  easily 
demonstrable,  and  one  which  perhaps  occurs  to  every  one,  sooner 
or  later,  at  one  time  or  another,  and  is  held  by  him,  for  a  time,  or 
ever  after,  according  to  his  mode  of  thinking.  We  might  name  it 
transcendent  fatalism ,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  common  and 
demonstrable  fatalism.  .  .  .  Thus,  in  regard  to  particular  individual 
fate,  grew  up  in  many  that  transcendent  fatalism  which  the  attent¬ 
ive  consideration  of  his  own  life,  after  its  thread  has  been  spun  to 
a  considerable  length,  suggests,  perhaps,  to  every  one  once;  and 
which  has  not  only  much  that  is  consolatory  but  it  may  be  also 
much  that  is  true;  and  therefore  has  it  at  all  times  been  affirmed, 
even  as  dogma.  Neither  our  conduct  nor  our  career  is  our  work ; 
but  that,  indeed,  which  nobody  supposes  to  be  so  —  our  nature  and 
existence  ( unser  JVesen  und  Dasein).  For  on  the  foundation  of 
these,  and  of  the  circumstances  and  external  events  occurring  in 
the  strictest  causal  connection,  our  actions  and  whole  career  pro¬ 
ceed  with  complete  necessity.  Already  at  a  man’s  birth,  there¬ 
fore,  is  his  whole  career  irrevocably  determined  even  in  its  details, 
so  that  a  somnambule  in  high  power  could  predict  it  exactly.  We 
should  keep  this  great  and  certain  truth  in  view  in  the  considera¬ 
tion  and  judgment  of  our  career,  our  acts  and  sufferings.” 


CHAPTER  SEVENTH. 


VARIOUS  INSTANCES  OF  THE  SO-CALLED  PASSAGE  OF  MATTER  THROUGH 
MATTER. 

After  this  digression  I  now  go  on  to  the  description  of  those 
physical  modifications  which  have  actually  been  effected  in  some  of 
the  above  objects  prepared  by  me,  without  their  having  been 
touched  at  all  by  Slade. 

On  the  3rd  of  May  of  this  year  at  half-past  eight  in  the  evening, 
during  a  sitting  in  which,  besides  myself,  Herr  O.  von  Hoffmann 
took  part.,  there  lay  on  the  table  with  other  objects  two  of  the 
above-mentioned  snail-shells.  I  had  bought  both  of  them  on  the 
morning  of  the  same  day  from  an  Italian  shell-dealer,  who  offered 
his  wares  for  sale  at  Leipsic  fair.  The  smaller  shell  belonged  to 
a  species  commonly  found  here;  the  larger  to  a  species  which, 
according  to  the  dealer,  is  found  on  the  shore  of  the  Mediterra¬ 
nean  Sea;  he  wrote  down  the  name  of  it —  Capo  Turbus  (Lat. 
Caput  turbo )  —  at  my  desire.  The  nearly  circular  aperture  of 
this  shell  had  a  diameter  of  about  43  millimetres,  while  the  smaller 
one  measured  only  about  32  millimetres  in  its  greatest  extent.  On 
this  evening  I  had,  without  definite  design,  so  capped  the  smaller 
shell  with  the  larger  that  the  latter,  lying  with  its  opening  next 
the  surface  of  the  table,  completely  hid  the  former.  This  had  hap¬ 
pened  during  a  sitting  in  which  wholly  different  manifestations 
occurred.  When,  now,  Slade  held  a  slate*  under  the  edge  of  the 


•In  order  to  deprive  the  suggestion  that  Mr.  Slade  writes  himself  on  the  slalo, 
by  means  of  a  bit  of  pencil  inserted  under  the  finger-nails,  of  every  rational 


(lOl) 


102 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


table  in  tbe  usual  way  to  get  writing  on  it,  something  clattered 
suddenly  on  the  slate,  as  if  a  hard  body  had  fallen  on  it.  When 
immediately  afterwards  the  slate  was  taken  out  for  examination, 
there  lay  upon  it  the  smaller  shell  which  a  minute  before  I  had 
capped  with  the  larger,  as  above  mentioned.  Since  both  shells 
had  lain  before  almost  exactly  in'  the  middle  of  the  table,  untouched 
and  constantly  watched  by  me,  here  was,  therefore,  the  often 
observed  phenomenon  of  the  so-called  penetration  of  matter  con¬ 
firmed  by  a  surprising  and  quite  unexpected  physical  fact.  Reserv¬ 
ing  the  account  of  numerous  other  phenomena  of  this  kind  to  the 
third  volume  of  my  Scientific  Treatises*  I  yet  mention  here  one 
very  remarkable  circumstance.  Immediately  after  Mr.  Slade 
drew  the  slate  from  under  the  table  with  the  smaller  shell  on  it.  I 
seized  the  shell  in  order  closely  to  examine  it  for  any  changes  that 
might  have  happened  in  it.  I  was  nearly  letting  it  drop,  so  very 
hot  had  it  become.  I  handed  it  at  once  to  my  friend,  and  he  con¬ 
firmed  the  fact  of  its  remarkably  high  temperature.  This  fact  is,  I 
believe,  of  physical  importance  with  regard  to  one  circumstance  in 
the  following  experiments. 

On  the  9th  of  May,  at  seven  o’clock  in  the  evening,  I  was  alone 
with  Slade  in  our  usual  sitting-room.  A  fresh  wind  having  blown 
all  the  afternoon,  the  sky  was  remarkably  clear,  and  the  room, 
which  has  a  westerly  aspect,  was  brilliantly  lighted  by  the  setting 
sun.  The  two  wooden  rings  and  the  above-mentioned  (p.  97) 
entire  bladder  band  were  strung  on  to  a  piece  of  catgut  one  milli¬ 
metre  in  thickness,  and  105  metre  in  length.  The  two  ends  of 
the  catgut  were  tied  together  by  myself  in  a  knot,  and  then,  as  for¬ 
merly  in  the  case  of  the  string,  secured  with  my  own  seal  by 
myself.  Plate  III.  represents  the  condition  of  things  at  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  sitting;  Plate  IV.,  at  its  conclusion. 


foundation ,  I  had  provided  myself,  from  the  stationery  establishment  of  Mylius 
at  this  place,  with  half  a  dozen  slates  having  a  length  of  31  centimetres  and  a 
breadth  of  15  centimetres  (with  the  fabric  mark,  A.  W.  Faber,  no.  39).  With  a 
slate  so  much  longer  than  usual,  it  was  impossible  that  Mr.  Slade  could  write 
with  his  lingers,  while  holding  the  slate,  over  its  whole  surface. 

*  Post. 


( Copied  from  a  Photograph. ) 


(  Confer?  frnnc» 


Platk  V. 


(Copied  from  a  Photograph. ) 


AN  UNEXPECTED  PHENOMENON. 


109  * 


When  Slade  and  I  were  seated  at  the  table  in  the  usual  niau- 
ner,  I  placed  my  two  hands  over  the  upper  end  of  the  sealed  cat¬ 
gut,  as  shown  in  the  plate,  photographed  from  life.  The  small 
round  table,  already  referred  to,  was  placed  shortly  after  our  entry 
into  the  room  in  the  position  shown  in  the  picture.  * 

After  a  few  minutes  had  elapsed,  and  Slade  had  asserted,  as 
usual  during  physical  manifestations,  that  he  saw  lights,  a  slight 
smell  of  burning  was  apparent  in  the  room, —  it  seemed  to  come 
from  under  the  table,  and  somewhat  recalled  the  smell  of  sulphu¬ 
ric  acid.  Shortly  afterwards  we  heard  a  rattling  sound  at  the 
small  round  table  opposite,  as  of  pieces  of  wood  knocking  together. 
When  I  asked  whether  we  should  close  the  sitting,  the  rattling  was 
repeated  three  times  consecutively.  We  then  left  our  seats,  in 
order  that  we  might  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  rattling  at  the  round 
table.  To  our  great  astonishment  we  found  the  two  wooden  rings, 
which  about  six  minutes  previously  were  strung  on  the  catgut,  in 
complete  preservation,  encircling  the  leg  of  the  small  table.  The 
catgut  was  tied  in  two  loose  knots,  through  which  the  endless  blad¬ 
der  band  was  hanging  uninjured ,  as  is  seen  in  Plate  IY.  (See 
Plate  X.,  Appendix  D.) 

Immediately  after  the  sitting,  astonished  and  highly  delighted 
at  such  a  wealth  of  permanent  results,  I  called  my  friend  and  his 
wife  into  the  sitting-room.  Slade  fell  into  one  of  his  usual  trances, 
and  informed  us  that  the  invisible  beings  surrounding  him  had 
endeavored,  according  to  my  wish,  to  tie  some  knots  in  the  endless 
band,  but  had  been  obliged  to  abandon  their  intention  as  the  band 
was  in  danger  of  “melting”  during  the  operation  under  the  great 
increase  of  temperature,  and  that  we  should  perceive  this  by  the 
whiteness  of  a  spot  on  the  band.  Having  taken  the  band  into  my 
own  hands  immediately  after  the  sitting,  and  held  it  up  to  the 

» It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark  that  the  photographs  were  taken  not  dur¬ 
ing,  but  some  days  after,  the  sittings.  The  two  tables  are  those  used  in  the  sit¬ 
tings,  but  the  sealed  catgut,  with  the  two  wooden  rings  and  the  strip  of  bladder, 
were  afterwards  prepared  to  show  the  condition  of  these  objects  before  the  sit¬ 
ting,  and  are  as  far  as  possible  exactly  copied  from  the  originals  shown  on  I’lato 
Ill. 


110 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


moment  of  Slade’s  communication,  I  felt  great  interest  in  testing 
the  correctness  of  this  assertion.  There  was,  in  fact,  a  white  spot 
as  indicated,  and  when  we  took  another  piece  of  exactly  the  same 
material  and  held  it  over  a  lighted  candle,  the  effect  of  the  increased 
temperature  was  to  produce  precisely  such  another  white  spot. 
This  fact,  in  connection  with  the  burning  smell  perceived  during 
the  sitting,  as  well  as  the  increase  in  temperature  in  a  former 
experiment  (related  above),  will  be  worth  bearing  in  mind  in  fur¬ 
ther  experiments  with  four-dimensional  movements  of  bodies. 

In  fact,  if,  according  to  the  above-cited  alternative  of  Riemann, 
“  the  reality  underlying  space  must  be  sought  in  binding  forces 
acting  thereon,”  so  could  such  increase  of  temperature  be  produced 
in  like  manner  as  in  the  motions  of  conducting  bodies  in  the  mag¬ 
netic  held.  For  suppose  we  knew  nothing  of  the  magnetic  induc¬ 
tion  discovered  by  Faraday,  and  were  observing  in  a  space  lying 
between  the  poles  of  an  electro-magnet,  not  otherwise  perceptible 
to  us,  the  increase  in  temperature  of  quickly-moved  conducting 
bodies  would  appear  to  us  just  as  wonderful  and  incomprehensible 
as  the  heat  produced  in  mundane  bodies  in  the  above  instances  by 
four  dimensional  changes  of  place. 

Doubtless,  a  highly-developed  understanding  which,  from  meta¬ 
physical  principles,  that  is,  from  principles  derived  from  reason, 
had  recognized  the  necessity  and  universal  significance  of  Weber’s 
law  for  every  interaction  of  spatially  separated  bodies  would  have 
inferred  the  existence  of  Faraday’s  magnetic  induction  a  priori ; 
he  would  therefore  regard  the  heating  of  conducting  bodies  on 
their  motion  only  as  an  empirical  confirmation  of  his  a  priori 
deductions,  and  thus  would  have  inferred  the  real  existence  of 
such  an  electro-magnet,  even  if  his  mortal  eye  had  never  seen  it, 
and  his  mortal  body  had  never  touched  it. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  my  prepared  experi¬ 
ments  did  not  succeed  in  the  manner  expected  by  me.  For  exam¬ 
ple,  the  two  wooden  rings  were  not  linked  together,  but  instead, 
were  transferred  within  five  minutes  from  the  sealed  catgut  to  the 
leg  of  the  round  birchen  table.  Since  the  seal  was  not  loosened, 


FAILURES  AN  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  TRICKERY. 


Ill 


and  the  top  of  the  table  was  not  at  any  time  removed, —  it  is  still 
tightly  fastened, —  it  follows,  from  the  standpoint  of  our  present 
conception  of  space,  that  each  of  the  two  wooden  rings  penetrated 
first  the  catgut,  and  then  the  birch  wood  of  the  leg  of  the  table. 
If,  however,  I  ask  whether,  in  the  eyes  of  a  skeptic,  the  experiment 
desired  by  me  or  that  which  actually  succeeded  is  most  fitted  to 
make  a  great  and  convincing  impression,  on  closer  consideration 
every  one  will  decide  in  favor  of  the  latter.  For  the  demonstrat¬ 
ive  force  of  the  interlinked  rings  would  rest  merely  on  the  credi¬ 
bility  of  the  botanically-edticated  inicroscopist,  who  must  have  been 
my  witness  (as  the  Imperial  Court  conjurer,  Bellachini,  was  for 
Mr.  Slade)  that  the  natural  conformation  of  the  rings  had  never 
been  disturbed.  How  wholly  useless,  however,  such  testimonies 
are  at  present,  when,  according  to  Goethe’s  expression,  “incredu¬ 
lity  has  become  like  an  inverted  superstition  for  the  delusion  of 
our  time,”  we  have  seen  in  the  sort  of  criticism  which  Bellachini’s 
testimony  has  undergone  at  the  hands  of  the  Berlin  literati.*  The 
question  will  moreover  be  asked,  why  just  here  in  Leipsic  the  experi¬ 
ments  with  Mr.  Slade  have  been  crowned  with  such  splendid  suc¬ 
cess,  and  yet  the  knot  experiment,  for  example,  has  not  once  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  Russia,  notwithstanding  so  many  wishes.  If  it  is  con¬ 
sidered  how  great  an  interest  Mr.  Slade  must  have  in  seeing  so 
simple  and  striking  an  experiment  everywhere  and  always  success¬ 
ful,  every  rightly  judging  and  unprejudiced  person  must  see  just 
in  this  very  circumstance  the  most  striking  proof  that  Mr.  Slade  is 
no  trickster  who  by  clever  manipulations  makes  these  knots  him¬ 
self.  For  such  an  one  would  evidently  be  at  the  trouble  so  to 
increase  his  expertness,  by  frequent  repetition  of  the  experiment, 
as  to  be  able  to  rely  with  certainty  on  his  art  to  deceive  other  “  men 
of  science.”  That,  nevertheless,  this  obvious  consideration  has  not 
suggested  itself,  the  above-mentioned  failure  being  regarded,  on 
the  contrary,  as  just  the  proof  that  Mr.  Slade  has  only  deceived  us 
at  Leipsic,  which  he  could  not  do  with  the  higher  intelligence  of 


•Merc  contemptuous  abuse  — Professor  Zollner  gives  the  articles  at  length  in 
an  earlier  part  of  his  volume. — Tu. 


112 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS 


the  liussian  learned,  is  shown  by  the  following  words  of  a  scien¬ 
tific  friend  from  Russia,  to  whom  I  had  sent  my  “Scientific  Treat¬ 


ises. 


- “  February  22d,  1878. 

“  Perhaps  the  following  fact  may  open  your  eyes.  Two  days 
ago,  iu  consequence  of  your  letter  and  in  dependence  on  it,  two 
scientific  friends  visited  Mr.  Slade,  and  requested  him  to  undertake 
in  their  presence  the  strikiug  operation  of  the  four  knots.  Mr. 
Slade’s  answer  was,  ‘This  operation  has  only  succeeded  twice  (in 
Leipsic?);  at  present  my  medium  is  not  strong  enough  for  it.’ 
After  this  can  you  look  upon  that  operation  as  an  actual  proof  of 
the  existence  of  the  fourth  dimension '?  ” 

It  has  further  been  asked,  why  the  communications  which  are 
written  for  Mr.  Slade  on  his  slates,  as  is  supposed  by  invisible 
spirits,  are  for  the  most  part  so  commonplace,  and  so  completely 
within  the  compass  of  human  knowledge;  high  spirits  must  yet 
necessarily  write  with  more  genius,  and  also  spell  properly.  A 
private  teacher  of  philosophy  at  Berlin  having  made  this  objection 
to  me  personally,  on  his  visit  to  Leipsic,  I  observed  to  him  any 
communication  transcending  the  present  horizon  of  our  understand¬ 
ing  must  necessarily  appear  to  us  absurd  and  incomprehensible, 
and  I  quoted  the  following  words  of  Lichtenberg:  —  *  “If  an 
angel  were  to  discourse  to  us  of  his  philosophy,  I  believe  that 
many  propositions  would  sound  to  us  like  ‘  2  and  2  make  13.’  ”  Far 
from  understanding  me,  that  young  philosopher  asked  me  quite 
seriously,  and  with  an  expression  of  the  highest  curiosity,  whether 
such  propositions,  then,  ever  appeared  on  Mr.  Slade’s  slates  to 
attest  their  angelic  origin.  Completely  unprepared  for  such  a 
naive  question,  I  was  silent,  and  looked  with  some  astonishment  at 
my  young  philosopher,  who  had  even  already  published  a  book  ou 
the  now  theory  of  space.  Without  replying,  I  thought,  “  Ouly 


#  Miscellaneous  Writings  vol.  i.,  p.  105. 


A  NAIVE  MISCONCEPTION. 


113 


wait;  soon  thou  also  wilt  be  at  rest”  (“  Warte  nur,  balde  ruhest 
auch  du”),  as  regular  professor  of  philosophy  in  the  bosom  of 
some  famous  German  university,  and  then  will  it  be  with  thy  stu¬ 
dents  just  as  with  us  “if  an  angel  had  discoursed  to  us  of  his  phi¬ 
losophy;”  for  Lichtenberg  says,  “We  live  in  a  world  where  one 
fool  makes  many  fools,  but  one  wise  man  only  a  few  wise  men.”  * 

The  fact  that,  just  here  in  Leipsic,  experiments  devised  from 
the  standpoint  of  a  definite  theory  have  been  so  surprisingly  suc¬ 
cessful  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Slade,  I  regard  as  one  of  the  most 
striking  proofs  of  the  great  intelligence  of  the  invisible  beings  sur¬ 
rounding  him.  For  if,  without  appearing  presumptuous,  I  may 
include  myself  in  that  class  of  intelligent  beings  in  which  indeed  all 
my  fellow-men  also  number  themselves,  by  the  name  of  their  spe¬ 
cies,  “  homo  sapiens ,”  yet  would  I  make  more  precise  communica¬ 
tions  and  explanations  concerning  my  physical  observations  only  to 
such  men  as  I  hold  to  be  sufficiently  trained.  In  a  society  of 
social  democrats,  or  in  one  of  German  or  English  scientists,  where 
Mr.  Tyndall  or  Sir  W.  Thomson  finds  such  a  ready  sale  for  their 
wares, f — -yes,  even  in  the  Berlin  Academy,— I  would  refrain  from 
speaking  or  experimenting  on  my  theory  of  space.  Were  I,  for 
example,  myself  one  of  those  invisible  spirits  who  hover  round  Mr. 
Slade,  and  were  my  medium  invited  to  a  “scientific”  examination 
by  the  Berlin  academicians,  it  would  be  easy  for  me  to  write  on 
the  slate  the  following  proposition,  tor  instance:  “We  are  the 
play  of  our  brain-molecules,”  or,  “  The  first  life  on  the  earth  took 
its  rise  in  germs  enclosed  in  the  cool  folds  of  a  meteoric  stone.” 

These  propositions  would  evidently  have  been  greeted  with  joy 
by  Mr.  E.  du  Bois-Eaymond  and  Herr  Helmholtz  as  striking 
proofs  of  the  high  intelligence  of  those  invisible  beings,  and  would 
certainly  have  brought  much  honor  and  glory  to  my  medium.  As 
an  invisible  spirit,  I  might  perhaps  have  perpetrated  in  good-humor 

*  Thoughts  and  Maxims,  p.  4G. 

t  To  make  this  allusion  intelligible,  it  should  be  mentioned  that  much  of  these 
volumes  is  devoted  to  criticism  of  the  atomic  and  other  speculative  hypotheses 
of  these  scientitic  gentlemen. —  Tu. 


114 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


such  a  jest  with  the  Berlin  academicians,  just  as  Sir  W.  Thomson 
did  with  his  “ unscientific  people”  at  the  Edinburgh  meeting  of 
scientists  seven  years  ago.*  Since,  however,  in  the  higher  world 
of  spirits  truth  is  held  as  something  sacred,  with  which  only  lower 
spirits  permit  themselves  to  jest,  so  by  such  purport  of  my  slate¬ 
writing  should  1  have  made  myself  guilty  of  an  injury  to  the 
moral  law,  which,  according  to  the  laws  of  divine  and  eternal  jus¬ 
tice,  would  bring  its  own  punishment.  May  not  possibly  similar 
considerations  have  prevailed  to  hinder  Slade’s  invisible  beings 
from  displaying  at  another  place  their  treasures,  which  have  been 
shown  to  us  partly  here  in  Leipsie,  in  such  wonderful  abundance  ? 

Lastly,  a  circumstance  may  be  briefly  noticed  which  relates  not 
so  much  to  the  moral  and  intellectual  qualities  of  the  invisible 
spirits  as  to  those  of  the  visible  mediums,  whom  those  spirits  need 
for  their  manifestations.  It  has  been  alleged  as  a  characteristic  of 
all  such  mediums  that,  notwithstanding  the  most  wonderful  occur¬ 
rences  in  their  proximity,  they  have  yet  the  inclination  to  deceive, 
that  is,  when  opportunity  offers,  to  produce  the  desired  effect  by 
such  operations  as  they  consciously  endeavor  to  hide  from  observa¬ 
tion.  Having  regard  to  the  great  danger  of  such  attempts  to  the 
medium,  and  to  the  entire  disproportion  between  the  effects  which 
can  be  so  produced  by  an  inexperienced  trickster  and  those  result¬ 
ing  from  genuine  mediumship,  the  question  arises  whether,  when 
this  is  the  case  with  a  medium  who  has  been  proved  with  certainty 
to  be  really  such,  the  same  consideration  does  not  apply  as  with 
persons  suffering  under  so-called  kleptomania.  It  is  asserted 
that  a  well-known  and  highly-gifted  lady  in  distinguished  circles  of 
Berlin  society  suffers  from  this  disease.  For  example,  after  mak- 


*  When  he  made  the  suggestion  that  the  first  life  on  this  earth  originated  in 
germs  enclosed  in  meteorites.  This  idea  was  for  a  long  time  discussed  quite 
seriously  by,  among  other  scientific  authorities,  E.  du  Bois-Raymond,  Helmholtz 
(who  claimed  priority  of  it  for  himself),  and  by  Zollner.  But  in  “Nature"  of 
4th  July,  1874,  appeared  the  following,  in  a  criticism  of  Zdllner’s  book,"  On,  the 
Hatnre  of  Comet*:"  —“The  celebrated  moss  grown  fragments  from  the  ruins  of 
another  world  was  only  a  jest,  taken  in  earnest  even  by  many  of  our  own  coun¬ 
trymen,  so  wo  can  scarcely  reproach  Professor  Zollner  for  falling  into  the  sarno 
mistake.” — Tit. 


PHENOMENA  INCONSISTENT  WITH  TRICKERY. 


115 


ing  large  purchases  at  a  jeweller’s  shop,  she  will  secretly  abstract 
an  ornament  which,  when  she  has  got  home,  she  will  return  by  her 
servants  to  the  proprietor.  Sometimes  a  similar  perversion  of  the 
moral  instinct  appears  with  women  in  the  state  of  pregnancy.  In 
all  these  persons  we  do  not  hold  the  persons  in  question  morally 
accountable  for  these  proceedings,  since  the  end  attained  thereby 
is  out  of  all  proportion,  considering  the  innocent  and  suitable 
means  at  hand.  Although  I  never,  during  my  thirty  sittings  and 
other  intercourse  with  Mr.  Slade,  perceived  anything  of  such  per¬ 
verse  methods,  yet  I  ask  every  unprejudiced  person  whether,  if 
this  has  been  the  case  elsewhere,  the  above  morally  and  legally 
admissible  judgment  in  relation  to  kleptomaniacs  is  not  here  also 
exculpatory,  considering  the  certainly  anomalous  physiological  con¬ 
stitution  of  such  mediums. 

Reserving  until  later  on  in  these  treatises  the  detailed  communi¬ 
cation  of  further  and  not  less  remarkable  phenomena  which  hap¬ 
pened  in  Slade’s  presence,  I  will  here  add  an  observation  to  tho 
accurate  description  (supra,  p.  54)  of  the  physical  manifestation 
which  occurred  on  the  occasion  of  Slade’s  first  visit,  on  the  16th 
November,  1877,  in  my  house  and  in  the  presence  of  my  friends 
and  colleagues,  Wilhelm  Weber  and  Scheibner.*  In  all  phe¬ 
nomena  in  the  presence  of  spiritualistic  mediums  hitherto  observed 
and  published,  it  is  almost  exclusively  the  modus  operandi  that 
has  led  to  controversies  concerning  the  explicability  of  the  phe¬ 
nomena  from  the  standpoint  of  our  conception  of  nature  hereto¬ 
fore.  An  argument  has  been  founded  on  the  fact  that  things 
occur  also  in  the  presence  of  conjurers  in  which  the  modus  oper¬ 
andi  of  the  performer  is  concealed  from  us,  and  thus  the  causal 
connection  between  the  muscular  movements  of  the  artist  and  the 
effect  produced  by  him  is  so  interrupted  (apparently)  that  for  the 
spectator  there  arises  the  impression  of  the  inexplicable,  and  there¬ 
fore  of  the  miraculous.  This  argument,  however,  has  for  its  pre¬ 
mise  the  understood  and  thus  unexpressed  presupposition  that  the 

•The  sudden  rending  of  tho  wooden  frame  of  a  bed-screen  at  least  live  feet 
from  Slade. 


116 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


muscular  force  requisite  for  the  production  of  these  tricks  of  the 
conjurer  remains  within  those  limits  which  according  to  experience 
are  prescribed  to  human  beings  bj  the  organization  of  their  bodies. 

If,  for  example,  one  man  alone  were  to  perform  a  trick  requir¬ 
ing;  the  strength  of  two  horses,  in  relation  to  such  a  result  the 
above  argument  would  be  no  longer  admissible,  since  then  there 
would  be  no  conceivable  modus  operandi  able  to  produce  the 
effect. 

In  the  case  of  my  bed-screen, —  the  manifestation  mentioned  at 
p.  54, —  I  am  fortunately  able  to  establish  such  an  instance. 

The  material  of  the  frame  was  alder  wood ;  the  screen  was  new, 
and  had  been  bought  by  me  about  a  year  before  at  the  furniture 
shop  already  mentioned  (p.  55).  The  cross-cut  of  the  two  pieces 
of  wood  which  were  longitudinally  *  and  simultaneously  rent, 
above  and  below,  amounted  to  3  142  cubic  centimetres.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  the  experiments  of  Ettelwein,f  the  amount  of  pull  requisite 
for  the  longitudinal  rending  of  such  a  piece  of  alder  wood  is  4957 
kilogrammes,  or  about  99  cwts. ;  since,  therefore,  two  such  rods 
have  been  simultaneously  rent,  for  the  production  of  this  effect  a 
force  of  pull  ( Zuykraft )  amounting  to  298  cwts.  must  have  been 
used. 

In  order,  now,  to  compare  the  force  here  given  with  that  exer¬ 
cised  by  men,  in  what  follows  I  quote  literally  the  appended  infor¬ 
mation  from  Gehler’s  Dictionary  of  Physics,  vol.  ii.,  p.  976:  — 

“  The  muscles  of  the  thigh  hold  upright  the  body,  whose  weight 

‘That  the  pull  (zug)  upon  the  screen  has  in  fact  acted  longitudinally  only  is 
still  evidenced  quite  independently  of  the  above-mentioned  direction  of  the  fibres 
at  the  places  of  division  (p.  64).  For  between  the  two  strong  beams  for  connect¬ 
ing  the  movable  parts  of  the  frame  are  two  thin,  parallel  pieces  of  wood  for 
securing  the  green,  woolen  stuff  with  which  the  screen  is  overlaid.  These  thin 
pieces  are  fastened  without  glue  to  the  vertical  supports  loosely  in  holes  about 
25  millimetres  deep;  if,  therefore,  instead  of  a  longitudinal  pull  a  rupture  (bruch) 
had  takeD  place,  these  two  pegs  must  have  been  broken  away,  which  was  not  the 
case. 

t  Handbook  of  Statics  of  Solid  Bodies,  with  particular  regard  in  their  applica¬ 
tion  to  Architecture,  vol.  iii.,  Berlin,  1808.  A  very  complete  review  of  earlier 
experiments  is  given  in  the  “ Edinburgh  Encyclopaedia.''  Compare  Gehler’s 
Dictionary  of  Physics ,  vol.  ii.,  p.  138. 


THE  LIMITS  OF  PHYSICAL  HUMAN  STRENGTH. 


117 


can  be  put  at  150  lbs. ;  and  since  there  are  muscles  which  bear 
300  lbs.  in  addition,  the  weight  of  pressure  already  amounts  in 
itself  to  450  lbs.  To  cite,  however,  some  examples  only  of  extra¬ 
ordinary  strength,  I  have  myself  known  a  man  who  without  prepa¬ 
ration  and  on  an  accidental  occasion  carried  six  Ilhenish  cubic  feet 
(Brunswick  bushels)  of  wheat,  and  upon  this  a  large,  strong  man, 
up  a  flight  of  about  eight  steps.  This  weight  of  itself  can  be  esti¬ 
mated  at  450  lbs.,  and,  with  the  added  weight  of  the  bearer,  in  the 
whole  at  600  lbs.,  resting  on  the  feet  and  legs  of  that  man. 

“There  are,  moreover,  many  instances  of  a  vastly  greater  exer¬ 
tion  of  strength  produced  by  the  extensor  muscle  of  the  leg,  like 
that  mentioned  by  Desaguliers,  of  a  man  who  thus  tore  a  rope 
which  sustained  a  weight  of  1800  lbs.  =  18  cwts. ;  he  himself 
and  some  others  having  raised  1900  lbs.  weight  by  means  of  a 
strap  hanging  down  over  the  hips,  by  bringing  the  somewhat  bent 
leg  into  a  straight  direction. 

“I  have  myself  seen  a  strong  man  raise  2000  lbs.,  by  placing 
himself  in  a  bent  posture  under  a  board,  whereon  this  weight 
rested,  bringing  its  point  of  gravity  somewhere  near  the  hips,  sup¬ 
porting  the  arms  on  the  knees,  and  then  straightening  the  bent 
legs.  The  muscles  here  applied  are,  among  all  in  the  human 
body,  able  to  overcome  the  greatest  weights,  and  so  therefore  a  man 
raises  much  heavier  burdens  in  the  way  described  than  on  the 
shoulders  or  with  the  upper  part  of  the  body,  if  at  the  same  time 
the  backbone  has  to  be  straightened. 

“I  myself  knew  a  man  who  raised  a  cwt.  from  the  chair  on  to 
the  table  on  the  little  finger  of  the  right  hand  with  outstretched 
arm ;  and  even  this  instance  is  by  no  means  the  strongest,  judging 
from  credible  narratives;  so  I  saw  the  above-mentioned  Hercules, 
who  raised  the  2000  lbs.,  grasp  with  his  right  hand  a  perpendicu¬ 
lar  rod  of  iron,  sufficiently  secured,  and  with  outstretched  arm 
keep  his  whole  body  sustained  in  a  horizontal  position  for  about 
five  seconds  wdthout  other  support.” 

Comparing  the  above  with  the  force  198  cwts.,  requisite  for  the 
rending  of  my  bed-scrcen,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  strength  of  the 


118 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


Hercules  referred  to  would  have  to  be  multiplied  by  nearly  10 
—  applied  in  a  favorable  position — to  produce  the  physical  mani¬ 
festation  which  took  place  in  Slade’s  presence  without  contact. 
Since  “  the  force  in  the  movement  of  weights  by  carrying  on  tko 
flat”  is  with  a  horse  on  the  average  about  five  times  greater  than 
that  of  a  man,*  so  for  the  production  of  the  mechanical  effect  in 
question  in  Slade’s  presence  about  two  horses  would  have  been 
necessary.  Even  if  Slade  should  be  assumed  to  be  a  giant,  and 
the  faculty  ascribed  to  him  of  moving  so  swiftly  in  space  that  my 
friends  Wilhelm  Weber,  Scheibner,  and  I  myself  were  prevented 
by  tliis  rapidity  from  perceiving  how  he  tore  asunder  the  screen  by 
his  own  action,  yet  will  rational  skeptics  be  disposed  to  renounce 
such  an  “  explanation  ”  after  the  statements  just  given. 

But  in  case  I  should  be  reproached  with  having  in  the  above 
supposition  caricatured  the  so-called  “  rational  ”  attempt  at  expla¬ 
nation,  I  may  observe  that  one  of  my  esteemed  colleagues  who,  on 
the  day  after  the  sitting  in  question,  was  himself  present  with  two 
other  of  our  colleagues  at  a  sitting  with  Mr.  Slade,  sought  quite 
seriously  to  appease  his  scientific  conscience  by  the  supposition  that 
Slade  carried  dynamite  about  with  him  for  the  purpose  of  such 
strong  mechanical  manifestations,  concealing  it  in  some  clever 
fashion  in  the  furniture,  and  then  with  equal  adroitness  exploding 
it  by  a  match.  This  explanation  reminded  me  of  one  by  which  a 
peasant  in  the  remote  part  of  Pomerania  attempted  to  account  for 
the  motion  of  a  locomotive.  To  mitigate  in  some  degree  the  ter¬ 
ror  which  the  first  sight  of  a  self-moving  locomotive  must  naturally 
excite  in  rude  and  ignorant  men,  the  priest  of  the  village  in  ques¬ 
tion  tried  to  explain  to  his  parishioners  the  mechanism  and  effect  of 
a  steam-engine.  When  now  the  pastor  had  conducted  his  peasants, 
enlightened  by  this  “popular  lecture,”!  to  the  railroad  just  as  the 

* Gehler’s  Dictionary  of  Physics,  vol.  v.,  p.  1004.  Literally  “  There  Is  therefore 
in  the  movement  by  carrying  of  weights  on  the  flat,  a  force, 

Of  a  man  =  l  according  to  Coulomb. 

Of  a  horse  =  4.8  according  to  Hrunacci. 

Of  a  horse  =  6.1  according  to  Wessermann.” 

1  For  reasons  given  in  other  parts  of  Ins  treatises,  Professor  Zollner  holds  popu¬ 
lar  expositions  of  scientilic  subjects  in  small  esteem.— Tit. 


CATALYTIC  FORCES. 


119 


first  train  rushed  by,  they  all  shook  their  heads  incredulously,  and 
answered  the  priest,  “  No,  no,  parson,  there  are  horses  hidden 
inside!”  That,  in  fact,  within  all  bodies  electrical  forces  are 
potentially  latent,  which,  suddenly  released,  could  exceed  the 
strongest  effects  of  a  charge  of  dynamite,  I  have  already  remarked 
in  the  first  volume  as  follows :  “  It  is  proved  that  the  electrical 
energy  present  in  the  mass  of  one  milligram*  of  water  (or  any 
other  body)  would  be  able,  if  it  could  be  suddenly  set  free,  to  pro¬ 
duce  the  amount  of  motion  which  the  explosion  of  a  charge  of  1(57 
kilogrammes  f  of  powder  in  the  largest  of  cannons  now  existing 
can  impart  to  a  shot  of  520  kilogrammes.” 

In  the  presence  of  spiritualistic  mediums  there  must  therefore 
have  been  operative  so-called  catalytic  J  forces,  hitherto  concealed 

*  =  0.01543  grains. 

1 1  kilogram  =  lbs.  2.2046213. 

tThat  the  ordinary  chemical  and  physical  processes  require  for  their  explana¬ 
tion  the  supposition  of  such  catalytic  forces  was  first  recognized  by  Berzelius, 
with  whom,  as  is  well  known,  the  designation  of  these  forces  originated. 

It  is  certainly  a  proof  of  the  great  acuteness  of  Wilhelm  Weber,  and  of  the 
universal  significance  of  his  law,  that  already,  thirty-two  years  ago,  immediately 
following  the  discussion  of  the  analytical  expression  of  his  law  (compare  my 
Principle*  of  an  Electro- Dynamic  Theory  of  Hatter,  vol.  i.),  he  expressed  himself 
concerning  the  existence  of  catalytic  forces  in  nature  as  follows:  — 

“Thus  this  force  depends  on  the  quantity  of  the  masses,  on  their  distance,  on 
their  relative  velocity,  and  further  on  that  relative  acceleration,  which  comes  to 
them  partly  in  consequence  of  the  persistence  of  the  motion  already  present  in 
them,  partly  in  consequence  of  the  forces  acting  upon  them  from  other  bodies.” 

“  It  seems  to  follow  from  thence  that  direct  interaction  between  two  electrical 
masses  depends  not  exclusively  upon  these  masses  themselves  and  their  mutual 
relations  but  also  in  the  presence  of  third  bodies.  Now  it  is  known  that  Berze¬ 
lius  has  already  conjectured  such  a  dependence  of  direct  interaction  of  two  bod¬ 
ies  in  the  presence  of  a  third,  and  has  designated  the  force  thence  resulting  by 
the  name  of  catalytic.  Adopting  this  name,  it  can  therefore  be  said  that  even 
electrical  phenomena  proceed  in  part  from  catalytic  forces. 

“  This  proof  of  catalytic  forces  for  electricity  is  not,  however,  strictly  speaking 
a  consequence  of  the  discovered  principles  of  electricity.  It  would  only  then  be 
go,  if  with  these  principles  was  necessarily  connected  the  idea  that  only  the 
forces  by  which  electrical  masses  act  directly  on  each  other  from  a  distance  were 
thereby  determined.  It  is,  however,  conceivable  that  among  the  forces  compre¬ 
hended  under  the  discovered  principles  are  some  exercised  mediately  by  elec¬ 
trical  masses  on  one  another,  which  must  therefore  depend,  in  the  first  instance, 
on  the  interposing  medium,  and  furthermore  on  all  bodies  acting  on  this  medium. 
Such  mediately  exercised  forces,  if  the  interposing  medium  is  withdrawn  from 
our  view,  may  easily  pass  for  catalytic  forces,  although  in  fact  not  so.  The  con- 


1‘20 


TKANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


from  us,  which  were  able  to  release  and  convert  into  active  force 
a  small  part  of  the  potential  energy  laid  up  in  all  bodies.  That 
fifty  years  ago  a  physicist  could  venture  with  impunity  publicly  to 
declare  tbo  possible  existence  of  “forces,  up  to  the  present 
unknown  t6  us,”  without  on  that  account  having  dirt  thrown  upon 
him  by  anonymous  writers  in  (so-called)  “respectable  journals,” is 
proved  by  the  following  words  of  the  then  professor  of  physics  in 
the  University  of  Heidelberg  in  the  year  1829:*  “Not  a  few, 
and  among  them,  moreover,  advantageously  known  scholars,  have 
supposed  different  unknown  forces  in  nature,  and  especially  in 
man.  That  there  may  be  such,  from  whose  action  many  as  yet 
mysterious  phenomena  of  vegetable  and  animal  vital  processes 
could  be  explicable,  certainly  cannot  be  denied  generally  and  a 
priori ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  greatest 
circumspection  and  a  skepticism  much  to  be  recommended  to  a 
physicist  should  be  exercised  in  this  supposition.” 

How  far  the  paternal  counsel  here  given  to  uncritical  physicists 
is  justifiable  and  decent  when  applied  to  men  of  the  scientific  emi¬ 
nence  of  Wilhelm  Weber  or  Feclmer,  particularly  from  the  mouths 
of  literati  and  pretended  ( so-genannten )  “men  of  science,”  pos¬ 
terity  may  judge.  In  the  meanwhile,  we  console  ourselves  with 
words  addressed  by  Galileo  to  Kepler :  — 

“  What  will’st  thou  say  of  the  first  teachers  at  the  Gymnasium 
at  Padua  who,  when  I  offered  it  to  them,  would  look  neither  at 
the  planets  nor  the  moon  through  the  telescope  ?  This  sort  of 
men  look  on  philosophy  as  a  book  like  the  iEneid  or  Odyssy,  and 
believe  that  truth  is  to  be  sought  not  in  the  world  or  nature  but 
only  in  *  comparison  of  texts.’  How  would’st  thou  have  laughed, 
when  at  Pisa  the  first  teacher  of  the  Gymnasium  there  endeavored, 

ception  of  catalytic  forces  must  at  least  be  essentially  modified  in  speaking  of 
them  in  such  cases.  That  is  to  say,  under  catalytic  force  must  then  be  understood 
such  a  mediately  exercised  force  as  can  bo  defined  according  to  a  general  rule 
through  a  certain  knowledge  of  the  bodies  to  whose  influence  the  interposing 
medium  is  subjected,  although  without  knowledge  of  this  medium  itself.  The 
discovered  fundamental  law  of  electricity  gives  a  general  rule  for  the  determina¬ 
tion  of  catalytic  forces  in  this  sense.” 

*Muncko  in  Gehler’s  Dictionary  of  Physics ,  vol.  v.,  p.  1007. 


GALILEO  ON  PERVERSENESS  OF  LEARNED  MEN. 


121 


in  the  presence  of  the  Grant!  Duke,  to  tear  away  the  new  planets 
from  heaven  with  logical  arguments,  like  magical  exorcisms !  ” 
Kepler,  however,  hereupon  answered  Galileo:  — 

“  Courage !  Galileo,  and  advance.  If  I  see  rightly,  few  of 
Europe’s  eminent  mathematicians  will  fall  away  from  us ;  so  great 
is  the  power  of  truth." 


CHAPTER  EIGHTH. 


THE  PHENOMENA  SUITABLE  FOB  SCIENTIFIC  ltESEARCH.— TnEIR  REPRODUC¬ 
TION  AT  DIFFERENT  TIMES  AND  PLACES.— DR.  FRIESE’S  AND  PROFESSOR  WAG¬ 
NER’S  EXPERIMENTS  IN  CONFIRMATION  OF  THE  AUTHOR’S. 

Before  passing  on  to  the  description  of  further  experiments  and 
observations  which  I  conducted  with  Mr.  Slade,  I  may  mention 
that  the  essential  facts  (and  of  these  just  the  most  wonderful  and 
incredible)  have  already  been  repeated,  not  in  presence  of  Slade, 
but  among  private  individuals  with  medial  gifts,  under  the  most 
stringent  conditions.  This  circumstance  disposes  first  of  the  argu¬ 
ment  that  Mr.  Slade  is  a  swindler  and  impostor  merely  on  the 
ground  that  as  a  “professional”  medium  lie  makes  a  “business” 
of  his  powers  like  any  other  conjurer;  and  secondly  it  diverts  spir¬ 
itistic  phenomena  of  the  exceptional  character  which  might  seem 
to  unfit  them  for  becoming  objects  of  scientific  research.  For  the 
characteristic  of  natural  phenomena  is  that  their  existence  can  be 
confirmed  at  different  places  and  times.  Tlius  is  proof  afforded 
that  there  are  general  conditions  (  no  matter  whether  known  or 
unknown  to  us,  or  whether  we  can  provide  them  or  not  at  pleas¬ 
ure)  upon  which  these  phenomena  depend.  It  is  in  the  discovery 
and  establishment  of  these  conditions  under  which  natural  phe¬ 
nomena  occur  that  the  task  of  the  scientific  observer  and  experi¬ 
menter  consists. 

The  method  applied  by  me  for  demonstrating  the  appearance 
and  disappearance  of  human  limbs  by  means  of  sooted  paper  has 


Wise  Abli.,  vol.  iii.  ( Transcendental e  J’hysit),  p.  215. 


EXPERIMENTS  WITH  PRIVATE  MEDIUMS. 


1-23 


proved  particularly  successful.  Paper  so  treated  is  like  a  photo¬ 
graphic  camera  obscura  which  can  be  placed  unobserved  and  well 
guarded  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  medium,  so  that  deception 
becomes  a  physical  impossibility.  In  this  way  Dr.  liobert  Friese 
of  Breslau,  sitting  with  a  family  of  that  place,  a  lady  with  medi- 
umistic  powers  being  present,  obtained  the  impression  of  a  hand 
upon  sooted  paper  fixed  to  a  slate,  which  was  placed  on  a  stove 
and  covered  with  a  sheet  of  paper  to  protect  it  from  dust.  The 
impression  was  obtained  while  the  medium  sat  on  a  sofa  between 
Dr.  Friese  and  a  friend  of  his,  and  was  held  by  them  both.  The 
medium  in  a  state  of  trance  distinctly  saw  the  figure  which  mounted 
on  the  stove  and  made  the  impression  of  the  hand,  so  that  the 
whole  operation  was  described  by  her  during  the  process,  Dr. 
Friese  and  his  friend  perceiving  nothing.  The  slate  was  taken 
down  from  the  stove  directly  the  medium  awoke,  and  on  it  was 
found  the  impression  of  the  hand  just  as  she  had  described  it. 

But  the  most  brilliant  repetition  of  one  of  my  experiments  with 
sooted  slates  was  achieved  in  the  autumn  of  last  year  *  with  a  pri¬ 
vate  medium  in  St.  Petersburg.  It  has  been  published  by  Dr. 
Nicolaus  Wagner,  Professor  of  Zoology,  and  honorary  member  of 
the  university  there,  in  the  June  number  of  Psychische  Sludien, 
with  a  photo-lithographic  representation  of  the  impression  obtained. 
I  reproduce  this  account  here  literally,  since  it  also  illustrates  the 
ecclesiastical  and  religious  prejudices  which  now,  as  in  the  age  of 
Galileo,  attempt  to  obstruct  the  work  of  the  scientific  investigator. 

REPETITION  OF  ONE  OF  PROFESSOR  ZOLLNER’s  EXPERIMENTS  WITH 
PRIVATE  MEDIUMS. 

By  Nicolaus  Wagner,  Professor  of  Zoology,  and  Honorary  Member  of 
the  Imperial  University  at  St.  Petersburg. 

“The  reaction  against  the  spiritual  movement  runs  its  course 
with  the  same  violence  as  every  fanatical  opposition.  If  “  blind 


1878.  — Ta. 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


124 


faitli  ”  is  flic  motive  power  of  religious  fanaticism,  so  also  is  the 
direction  of  the  contrary  movement  determined  by  a  force  which  is 
quite  as  illogical — “blind  skepticism.”  In  the  one  and  the  other 
the  cause  is  the  same,  —  feeling,  passionately  excited,  and  resisting 
every  cool,  matter-of-fact  (objective)  consideration.  There  is  no 
better  proof  of  this  than  the  attacks  of  the  savans  upon  those  of 
their  colleagues  who  had  the  inexcusable  temerity  to  satisfy  them¬ 
selves  of  the  reality  of  mediumistic  phenomena,  and  to  publish 
their  experiences  to  the  world.  Until  their  fall  into  Spiritualism 
the  work  and  opinions  of  these  men  were  recognized  as  entirely 
logical,  accurate,  and  satisfying  the  conditions  of  scientific  inquiry. 
But  scarcely  have  these  same  scientists  carried  their  researches 
into  the  region  of  mediumistic  phenomena  than  they  are  forthwith 
encountered  with  the  feeling  of  antipathy;  and  that  even  before 
the  phenomena  themselves  have  been  adjudicated  upon  by  sound 
reason.*  Impelled  by  this  antipathy,  even  the  strongest  under- 

*  This  reminds  us  of  Mr.  Crookes:  “  It  is  edifying  to  compare  some  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  criticisms  with  those  that  were  written  twelve  months  ago.  When  I  first 
stated  in  this  journal  (Quarterly  Journal  of  Science)  that  I  was  about  to  investi¬ 
gate  the  phenomena  of  so-called  Spiritualism,  the  announcement  called  forth 
universal  expressions  of  approval.  One  said  that  my ‘statements  deserved  re¬ 
spectful  consideration  ;  ’  another  expressed  ‘  profound  satisfaction  that  the  sub¬ 
ject  was  about  to  be  investigated  by  a  man  so  thoroughly  qualitied  as,’  &c.;  a 
third  was  ‘gratified  to  learn  that  the  matter  is  now  receiving  the  attention  of 
cool  and  clear-headed  men  of  recognized  position  in  science;  ’  a  fourth  asserted 
that  ‘  no  one  could  doubt  Mr.  Crookes’  ability  to  conduct  the  investigation  with 
rigid  philosophical  impartiality;’  and  a  fifth  was  good  enough  to  tell  its  readers 
that  •  if  men  like  Mr.  Crookes  grapple  with  the  subject,  taking  nothing  for  granted 
until  it  is  proved,  we  shall  soon  know  how  much  to  believe.’ 

“These  remarks,  however,  were  written  too  hastily.  It  was  taken  for  granted 
by  the  writers  that  the  results  of  my  experiments  would  be  in  accordance  with 
their  preconceptions.  What  they  really  desired  was  not  the  truth,  but  an  addi¬ 
tional  witness  in  favor  of  their  own  foregone  conclusion.  When  they  found  that 
the  facts  which  that  investigation  established  could  not  be  made  to  fit  those 
opinions,  why,—*  so  much  the  worse  for  the  facts,’ —  they  try  to  creep  out  of  their 
own  confident  recommendations  by  declaring  that  ‘Mr.  Home  is  ft  clever  con¬ 
jurer,  who  has  duped  us  all.’  ‘Mr.  Crookes  might,  with  equal  propriety,  exam¬ 
ine  the  performances  of  an  Indian  juggler.’  ‘Mr.  Crookes  must  get  better  wit¬ 
nesses  before  he  can  be  believed.’  ‘The  thing  is  too  absurd  to  be  treated  seri¬ 
ously.’  ‘  It  is  impossible,  and  therefore  can’t  be.’  ‘  The  observers  have  all  been 
biologized  (1),  and  fancy  they  saw  things  occur  which  never  really  took  place.’” 
&c.,&e. —  Crookes’  lletKarch.ee  in  the  Phenomena  of  Spiritualism,  p.  22. — Note  by 
Translator. 


PROFESSOR  WAGNER  ON  “BLIND  SKEPTICISM.”  125 

standing  is  blind ;  it  seeks  support  from  and  attaches  itself  to  such 
strangely  childish  arguments  and  suppositions  as  to  any  sound 
thinking  and  unprejudiced  person  are  in  the  highest  degree 
absurd. 

“In  the  relations  of  the  savans  to  my  colleague,  Professor  Zoll- 
ner,  who  lately  experimented  in  the  mediumistic  field,  we  havo  the 
most  complete  evidence  of  the  justice  of  the  above  observation. 
Satisfied  through  the  force  and  reality  of  facts  of  the  entire  genu¬ 
ine  objectivity  of  the  mediumistic  phenomena,  he  detailed  his  inves¬ 
tigations.  But  as  in  the  case  of  the  investigations  of  Crookes  and 
Boutlerow,  so  were  these  also  forthwith  exposed  to  suspicion,  and 
set  down  to  clever  conjuring;  and  the  name  of  the  cautious  and 
accurate  investigator  swelled  the  sad  list  of  scientists  who  had  been 
deceived  by  (so-called)  charlatans. 

“Now,  since  the  whole  weight  of  this  charge  rests  on  the  merely 
supposed  fraud  of  the  mediums,  it  will  not  be  superfluous  if  I  give 
to  the  Press  the  results  of  some  investigations,  analogous  to  those 
of  Zollner,  which  I  have  made  with  non-professional  mediums.  I 
do  not  in  the  least  expect  that  this  narrative,  any  more  than  hun¬ 
dreds  such,  will  make  the  slightest  impression  on  the  fanaticism  of 
the  skeptic :  on  the  other  hand,  I  have  the  strongest  belief  that  it 
will  serve  to  confirm  the  growing  conviction  of  those  who  are  not 
disinclined  to  be  convinced  by  the  truth  of  things. 

“  Since  the  force  of  the  evidence  chiefly  depends  on  the  confi¬ 
dence  in  the  mediums,  and  in  the  persons  composing  the  circle 
among  whom  the  seances  took  place,  I  consider  it  essential  first  of 
all  to  discuss  this  question,  and  to  follow  it  up  with  some  historical 
statements.  Moved  by  my  and  my  colleague  Boutlerow's  writings 
in  certain  Russian  periodicals,  the  family  of  the  engineer  aud 
chemist  E - ,  as  also  some  of  their  intimate  friends  and  rela¬ 

tives,  desired  to  convince  themselves  of  the  reality  or  otherwise  of 
the  mediumistic  phenomena.  It  must  further  be  remarked  that  in 
these  families  earlier  cases  of  a  mediumistic  character  had  been 
already  observed,  but  had  been  ascribed  to  different  causes,  such 
as  accident  or  hallucination. 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


126 


Three  ladies  took  part  constantly  in  the  sittings, —  the  wife  of 

the  chemist,  Sophia  E - ;  her  sister,  A.  M - ;  and  her 

friend,  A.  L - ,  who  had  for  years  been  united  with  Mrs.  E - - 

in  the  most  genuine  friendship  and  sympathy.  Of  these  ladies 
the  two  tirst  were  gifted  with  very  remarkable  mediumistic  apti¬ 
tudes.  All  three  were  distinguished  by  deep  religious  feelings, 
and  every  deception,  even  for  a  good  end,  is  abhorred  by  them  as 
a  heavy  sin.  The  manifestations  occurring  almost  from  the  very 
first  were  regarded  by  them  as  miraculous,  and  this  feeling  was 
confirmed  as  the  phenomena  became  more  and  more  developed. 

“  The  fourth  lady,  who  was  likewise  constantly  present,  was  Miss 

Catherine  L - ,  one  of  the  greatest  friends  of  Sophia  E - ,  the 

wife  of  the  chemist  E - .  At  the  commencement  of  the  seances 

she  was  an  atheist;  all  her  convictions  leaned  to  materialism.  She 
held  the  principles  of  the  well-known  Russian  publicist,  Herr  Pisa- 
ref,  as  irrefragable  dogmas.  The  power  of  the  manifestations 
shook,  and  at  length  overthrew,  this  fanaticism  of  hers. 

“  This  small  circle  was  formed  with  the  firm  expectation  that  it 
would  succeed  in  demonstrating  the  mediumistic  manifestations  to 
be  simply  a  further  development  of  already-known  physical  phe¬ 
nomena.  With  this  object  the  table  at  which  they  sat  was  placed 
upon  glass  supports,  and  round  the  feet  of  the  table  was  wound  a 
wire,  the  ends  of  which  were  attached  to  a  galvanometer.  Instead, 
however,  of  the  expected  physical  phenomena,  the  table  at  the 
very  first  seance  urgently  demanded  the  alphabet,  and  by  means 
of  blows  with  the  foot  of  the  table  the  following  sentence  was 
spelled  out :  — 

“  ‘  I  suffer  because  thou  believest  not.’ 

“  ‘To  whom  does  that  refer?’  asked  those  present 

‘“To  Catherine  L - .’ 

“  ‘Who,  then,  art  thou?’  asked  L - . 

“  ‘I  am  thy  friend,  Olga  N - .’ 

“  This  dearly  beloved  friend,  also  an  atheist,  had  died  about  a 
year  before,  and  on  this  account  Catherine  L - was  deeply  aston¬ 

ished  and  moved  by  the  information  communicated  through  the 


PHENOMENA  IN  A  PRIVATE  FAMILY. 


127 


table.  This  information,  given  in  the  same  seance ,  referred  to 

dillerent  particulars  of  au  event  known  only  to  Catherine  L - , 

and  thoroughly  convinced  her  of  the  existence  of  the  soul  of  her 
beloved  friend,  even  though  in  another  world. 

“  Henceforth,  the  before-mentioned  physical  experimentation 
was  laid  aside,  the  conversations  were  more  and  more  striking,  and 
confirmed  their  faith  in  the  reality  of  another  world.  This  faith 
soon  became  a  firm  conviction  with  all.  To  show  the  relations  of 

the  circle,  and  especially  of  Catherine  L - ,  to  the  phenomena, 

I  here  add  some  extracts  from  her  diary,  which  was  written  for  her 
own  eye  only,  and  communicated  to  me  after  her  death,  which 
happened  somewhat  later. 

“‘29th  March,  1876,  1.30  a.m.  Scarcely  had  S -  and  I 

retired  to  rest,  and  left  off  talking  that  we  might  sleep,  than  sud¬ 
denly  there  sounded  a  beating  on  the  wall  at  the  head  of  my  bed. 
I  supposed  at  first  that  some  one  was  probably  passing  on  the 
stairs  adjoining  my  wall,  but  after  some  minutes  the  knocking  was 

repeated,  and  with  such  force  that  S - also  became  attentive, 

and  asked  me  if  I  had  knocked.  Now  I  guessed  what  it  was. 

‘“Probably  my  Olga  is  now  come  to  me,’  said  I.  In  assent 
sounded  immediately  three  times,  one  after  the  other,  a  muffled 
'  blow,  as  if  a  soft  wall  had  been  struck  with  a  hammer  wrapped  up 
in  something  soft. 

“  ‘  Is  it  thou,  Olgchcn  ?  ’  I  asked  the  spirit  aloud.  Three  regular 
knocks  answered. 

“‘Can  I  sleep  quietly  tills  night?’  Again  the  like  three 
knocks. 

“‘30th  March,  G.45  p.m. 

“‘Why  did  you  knock  at  my  wall  yesterday,  Olinka ? ’ 

“  ‘  Evil  spirits  prevent  you  going  to  the  supper.  Thou  wouldst 
do  it,  and  hast  abandoned  this  intention.  I  came  yesterday  to  say 
to  thee  that  thou,  dear  one,  shouldst  not  obey  them.  I  will  not 
come  for  a  whole  week.  I  have  much  to  do.  On  Thursday,  after 
the  supper,  1  will  visit  thee.’ 

“‘So,  if  I  take  the  supper,  thou  will’st  come  to  me?’ 


128 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


“  ‘  Yes,  and  I  will  make  thee  a  present.’ 

“  *  What  sort  of  a  present?  ’ 

“  ‘  Thou  canst  show  it  to  every  one.’ 

“  ‘Thou  will’st  give  it  to  me  on  the  day  of  the  Communion?’ 

“  ‘  Yes,  in  the  church.’ 

“  ‘  First  of  April.  I  have  confessed.  After  the  supper  I  went 
and  took  my  place  in  the  church.  Suddenly  in  my  hand  there 
came  a  nosegay  of  white  rose  and  myrtle,  tied  with  a  lock  of  the 
dear  and  well-known  hair!  That  was  the  promised  present. 

“  Come  home  from  church,  we  sat  ourselves  at  the  table.  Our 
heavenly  friend  was  already  among  us.  Her  first  words  were  — 

“  ‘  I  wish  you  all  happiness.  I  am  happy  for  you.  My  dar¬ 
ling  !  art  thou  content  with  my  present  ?  ’ 

“  ‘  What  significations  have  the  rose  and  myrtle?’ 

“‘Pure  love.  Eternity.’ 

“  ‘  I  could  scarcely  restrain  my  tears. 

“‘30th  April,  10  o’clock.  S.  E - ,  sitting  on  a  chair,  fell 

into  a  trance,  of  which  the  spirit  informed  us.  Afterwards  a 
hand  was  shown  to  us,  one  after  the  other ;  at  our  wish  it  touched 
our  hands,  and  came  close  to  the  sight  of  those  of  us  who  had  not 
been  able  to  distinguish  it  clearly  enough.  I  asked  the  spirit 
whether  I  could  kiss  this  hand  ?  The  spirit  replied  that  its  hand 
would  be  between  the  table  and  the  cloth,  and  that  I  might  kiss 
it  through  the  cloth.  Twice  I  kissed  the  dear  hand,  and  convinced 
myself  thereby  of  its  reality;  it  was  a  living,  flexible  hand.’ 

“  I  have  given  these  extracts  to  show  the  genuine  and  cordial 
relations  of  the  deceased  to  these  observers  of  the  phenomena 
which  took  place  before  their  eyes.  Again,  I  repeat,  that  she 
wrote  her  diary  for  herself  alone,  and  probably  never  thought  of 
the  possibility  that  extracts  from  it  might  appear  in  the  Press. 
The  circle  itself,  in  the  sittings  of  which  she  took  part,  was  exclu¬ 
sively  interested  in  the  phenomena  for  their  own  sake,  and  was 
utterly  and  altogether  unconcerned  with  the  spiritualistic  propa¬ 
ganda.  All  the  usual  mediumistic  phenomena,  such  as  the  self- 
moving  of  objects,  lights,  appearance  of  hands,  &c.,  took  place  at 


MATERIALIZATION  THROUGH  A  PRIVATE  MEDIUM.  129 

these  seances.  Especially  often  were  objects  brought  to  the  cir¬ 
cle,  most  frequently  pictures  of  saints,  hair,  and  flowers.  During  a 
seance  in  the  spring  the  whole  table  was  literally  covered  with 

flowers.  During  another  seance  the  daughter  of  Sophia  E - ,  a 

young  lady  of  fourteen  years  old,  received  a  live  green  frog,  to 
make  up  for  the  loss  of  one  that  had  died  a  few  days  before. 
This  frog  remained  with  her  for  some  days  alive,  and  afterwards 
disappeared. 

“On  one  occasion  the  spirit  of  Olga  N - declared  that  she 

would  fully  materialize,  and  designated  Sophia  E -  as  the 

strongest  medium,  through  whose  means  the  materialization  would 
be  effected.  On  the  evening  appointed  by  the  spirit  the  medium  was 
laid  upon  a  sofa  and  separated  from  the  rest  by  a  curtain  formed 
by  hanging  up  a  plaid.  She  remained,  howeverjso  far  visible 
that  her  position  could  always  be  observed.  It  was  half  dark  in 
the  room.  After  the  medium  had  fallen  into  a  trance  she  was 
several  times  raised  in  the  air,  placed  upon  the  boards,  and  again 
carried  back  to  the  sofa.  Afterwards  a  white  figure,  covered  with 
a  thick  veil,  was  raised  behind  and  above  the  curtain.  Quietly, 
calmly,  it  came  over  the  curtain  to  the  table  at  which  the  party 

were  sitting.  Then  it  went  to  Catherine  L - ,  embraced  and 

kissed  her,  touched  her  face  with  its  hand  and  disappeared,  whilst 
raised  asaiu  in  the  air.  At  the  next  seance,  which  was  in  dark- 
ness,  the  phenomenon  was  repeated,  and  Catherine  L - was  cov¬ 

ered  with  a  veil,  which  was  left  behind  upon  her.*  After  this 
phenomenon  the  sittings  of  the  circle  almost  ceased.  Amazed 
with  what  they  had  seen,  they  were  all  convinced  that  it  would  be 
a  sin,  after  these  proofs  of  the  reality  of  another  world  and  of  a 
higher  power,  to  continue  the  seances,  though  at  the  same  time 


•The  condition  of  the  medium  during  the  trance  made  a  deep  impression  on 
all  present,  the  most  lasting  one,  naturally,  upon  her  husband.  After  the  einnee, 
she  was  for  some  days  ill;  at  the  same  time  there  appeared  upon  her  left  side 
a  broad  blood-swollen  spot.  (Compare  the  description  of  a  materialization  from 
the  left  side  of  the  medium,  Dr.  Monck,  in  I'sychisdte  Studien,  1S77 . —  Note  by 
the  Editor).  These  unfortunate  results  were  supposed  by  the  sitters  to  be  owing 
to  their  having  put  forward  the  seance  earlier  than  the  appointed  time. 


130 


TRANSCENDENTAL  HIYSICS. 


they  did  not  refuse  individual  communications  and  instructions 
from  that  world,  and  for  this  purpose  availed  themselves  from 
time  to  time  of  the  usual  means  of  intercourse,  such  as  tabic  tip¬ 
ping  and  psychography.  Of  course,  therefore,  the  phenomena  did 
not  cease,  and  they  were  not  seldom  concerned  in  different  events 
which  happened  to  the  families  of  the  mediums. 

“All  this  had  gone  on  for  about  a  year,  up  to  the  winter  of  1877, 

when  I  accidentally  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  chemist  E - 

and  his  family.  Entertaining  the  wish  to  receive  some  proofs  of 
the  objectivity  and  reality  of  the  phenomena,  I  begged  some  of 
those  who  had  taken  part  in  the  earlier  seances  to  afford  me  the 
opportunity.  I  obtained  their  entire  consent,  and  found  the  great¬ 
est  readiness  to  comply  with  my  wish,  although  the  sentiments  of 
•the  whole  circle  were  opeuly  opposed  to  my  opinions.  This  oppo¬ 
sition  was  especially  marked  in  the  case  of  Catherine  L - ,  who, 

as  compensation  for  her  discarded  materialism,  was  now  fanatically 
addicted  to  ultra-orthodoxy.  She  continually  maintained  against 
me  that  no  evidences  of  these. things  could  ever  convince  any  one 
since  they  were  matters  of  faith  and  not  of  knowledge.  Such  being 
the  relations  of  the  circle,  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  we  should 
obtain  any  decided  results. 

“  During  the  first  sitting  in  which  I  took  part,  and  which  was 
held  in  a  dim  light,  a  hand  wTas  formed  above  the  small  table, 
which  was  covered  with  a  cloth,  and  afterwards  came  out  from 
under  the  cloth,  remaining  above  the  table  some  minutes,  and, 
gently  moving,  touched  those  who  inclined  themselves  towards  it. 
This  was  the  only  materialization,  and  the  only  remarkable  phe¬ 
nomenon  in  the  series  of  not  very  numerous  seances  which  lasted 
up  to  the  end  of  the  winter. 

“  Catherine  L - had  long  suffered  from  a  chronic  catarrh, 

which  at  this  time  took  the  form  of  consumption.  Her  disposition 
was  still  hostile  to  my  objects,  so  that  we  were  compelled  to  give 

up  the  seances.  She  died  in  the  arms  of  Mrs.  Sophia  E - -, 

amidst  the  proofs  of  her  love,  friendship,  and  affection. 

“  In  the  autumn  of  the  year  1878  the  relations  of  the  circle  to 


REPETITION  OF  ONE  OF  ZOLLNER’s  EXPERIMENTS. 


131 


the  mediumistic  phenomena  were  completely  changed.  After  the 

spirit  of  the  deceased  Catherine  L - had  given  consent  to  the 

continuance  of  the  sittings,  and  promised  good  success,  remarking, 
however,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  results  would  be  received  with 
distrust,  the  circle  was  widened  by  the  addition  of  some  young 
people ;  the  engineer,  the  mechanist  M - ,  was  one  of  the  con¬ 
stant  sitters;  sometimes  the  physician  L - took  part  in  the  sit¬ 

tings. 

“In  the  very  first  sitting  we  were  directed  by  raps  to  repeat  the 
experiment  of  Professor  Zollncr;  and  since  it  is  the  object  of  this 
publication  to  confirm  that  experiment,  I  will  not  dwell  upon  other 
more  or  less  remarkable  phenomena  which  occurred  at  our  seances. 

“  We  look  an  ordinary  folding  slate,  with  clasps;  on  each  side 
within  was  fastened,  by  means  of  wax,  paper,  blackened  with  soot. 
The  slate  was  then  tied  together  with  a  string,  and  the  ends  of  the 
string,  as  well  as  the  edges  of  the  slate,  were  fastened  with  four 

seals  with  the  signet  of  the  chemist  E - ,  and  the  signet  was 

entrusted  to  me  for  safe  custody  at  home.  We  were  informed  by 
means  of  raps  that  this  slate  must  lie  upon  the  table  for  four 
seances,  and  impressions  would  then  be  found  upon  it.  At  the 
seances  the  table  was  always  covered  with  a  cloth,  and  between 
this  and  the  table  the  slate  was  laid.  With  the  development  of 
the  phenomena  the  slate  began  to  move  of  itself.  It  went  from 
one  to  the  other,  in  order  that  it  might  remain  for  some  minutes 
under  the  hands  of  each  of  those  present. 

“  In  the  third  sitting  we  were  enjoined  to  seal  the  slate  with 

seven  seals,  with  another  signet  of  the  chemist  E - .  We  asked, 

‘Is  there  anything  on  the  slate?’  It  was  answered,  ‘Ido  not 
know.’  Thereupon  we  asked  if  we  might  open  it?  The  answer 
was,  ‘  Yes,  you  can.’  We  opened  the  slate ;  both  papers  were 
untouched.  We  closed  it  again,  bound,  and  scaled  it  with  seven 
seals.  The  signet  I  again  took  away  with  me.  At  the  following 
sitting  violent  movements  of  the  slate  again  occurred,  and  finally 
1  was  directed  to  lay  the  slate  on  my  knees.  I  did  so,  and  then 
placed  my  hands  again  upon  the  table.  For  some  minutes  the 


132 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


slate  remained  quiet;  then  I  bad  the  sensation  as  if  some  one 
lightly  touched  it  for  a  while.  Soon  after  we  were  told,  through 
sharp  decided  raps,  to  take  away  the  slate.  To  the  question,  ‘  Is 
there  an} thing  on  it?’  a  strong  definite  affirmative  answer  was 
returned.  ‘ Can  we  open  it ? ’  ‘Yes.’ 

“We  struck  a  light  (the  seance  was  in  the  dark),  opened  the 
slate,  and  perceived  an  impression  on  each  side :  upon  the  right, 
that  of  a  hand ;  upon  the  left,  that  of  a  foot.  All  three  female 
mediums  and  the  chemist  E - at  once  recognized  in  the  impres¬ 
sion  the  hand  of  Catherine  L - ,  which  had  characteristic  pecu¬ 

liarities.  It  was  unusally  large  and  long  for  a  female  hand,  the 
little  finger  being  strongly  bent  out.  The  foot,  also  unusually 
large,  could  not  find  room  enough  on  the  slate,  and  this  impression, 
moreover,  was  not  very  clear.  The  hand  was  much  more  sharply 
impressed,  if  not  quite  so  distinct,  as  was  the  case  with  Zollner’s 
impression.  (I  here  add  the  copy  of  our  impression.*)  For 
greater  certainty  this  impression  was  shown  to  a  sculptor,  who  well 
knew  the  hand  of  the  deceased,  and  he  at  once  asked,  ‘  Is  this  an 

impression  of  the  hand  of  Catherine  L - ?  ’  He  supposed  that 

'the  impression  had  been  taken  during  her  life.  We  were  appar¬ 
ently  ourselves  partly  to  blame  for  the  want  of  distinctness  in  the 
impression.  Every  one  who  is  familiar  with  mediumistic  phe¬ 
nomena  knows  their  whimsicality,  and  that  promises  given  at 
seances  are  often  not  fulfilled.  Not  much  expecting  success,  we 
went  only  superficially  to  work  in  the  preparation  of  the  slate  — 
did  not  fasten  the  paper  with  smooth  regularity  over  the  sides  of 
the  slate,  and  the  soot  was  not  thickly  and  regularly  spread.  Had 
we  only  found  any  thing  when  we  opened  the  slate  after  the  third 
seance,  which  would  have  given  us  but  a  remote  assurance  of 
future  results,  we  should  then  have  rectified  every  defect  in  our 
preparations. 

“The  above-recorded  objective  proof  I  regard  as  sufficient  to 
obviate  every  suspicion  of  deceit.  Had  it  been  even  possible 

•There  is  here  a  foot-note  relating  to  the  illustration  omitted  in  this  translation, 
the  illustration  itself,  as  two  or  three  others,  not  seeming  indispensable. — Ta. 


VALUE  OF  TIIE  FACTS. 


ins 


to  imitate  tlie  seal  and  open  the  slate,  yet  was  it  at  any  rate 
impossible,  and  indeed  without  aim  or  object,  to  imitate  the  im¬ 
pression  of  the  hand  of  the  deceased  C.  L - .  All  those  who 

took  part  in  the  seance  were  “believers;”  all  were  in  like  manner 
interested  in  the  experiment:  no  one  among  them  was  so  depraved 
and  mischievous  as  to  contrive  so  cruel  a  mystification,  cruel 
in  relation  to  the  persons  to  whom  the  memory  of  the  deceased  was 
sacred.  That  young  lady  was  more  than  a  relative  in  the  family 
of  the  chemist  E — — ;  one  could  not  but  see  the  joyful  rapture  of 
the  mediums  at  the  moment  when  they  recognized  in  the  impres¬ 
sion  the  hand  of  Catherine  L - .  All  crossed  themselves  and 

wept :  all  regarded  this  result  as  a  miracle. 

“  After  this  phenomenon  some  of  those  present  proposed  to  ter¬ 
minate  the  sittings,  since  no  better,  more  objective,  more  all  con¬ 
vincing,  complete  proof  could  be  obtained;  I,  however,  wished  to 
continue  them,  though  they  must  at  all  events  soon  cease.  The 
next  sitting  had  already  lost  the  characteristics  of  our  usual  seances. 
The  phenomena  were  languid  and  intermittent.  The  spirit  of 

Catherine  L -  declared  that  it  could  not  appear  for  a  whole 

month.  Other  disturbing  circumstances  concurred,  so  that  we 
resolved  to  postpone  our  seances  to  a  more  opportune  time.  An 
unexpected  misfortune  intervening  compels  us  to  renounce  them 
for  a  long  time,  perhaps  for  always. 

“  In  giving  this  simple  history,  with  its  childlike  full  conviction 
and  faith  in  the  personality  of  the  spirit  (Fetishism),  I  repeat  that 
it  can  have  no  effect  upon  the  stubborn  skepticism  of  those  who 
have  become  the  slaves  of  their  u  priori  convictions.  This  narra¬ 
tive  can  have  only  an  irritating  tendency  with  such,  excite  their 
skepticism  up  to  a  fanatical  point,  and  drive  them,  even  should  they 
admit  the  facts,  to  discover  some  explanation  even  more  senseless 
than  Carpenter’s  ‘  unconscious  cerebration.’  But  those  with  whom 
Fetishism  *  is  no  subjective  product  of  our  brain  and  feeling,  who 
recognize  the  necessity  and  legitimacy  of  individuality  as  the  lever 


*“  Eetischismus  ”  is  the  word  used,  but  not,  it  is  conceived,  in  the  sense  that 
word  bears  in  English. —  Nute  by  J'rausUitor. 


134 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


of  the  development  of  humanity  and  of  well-being,  those  will  find 
in  these  facts  the  proof  and  confirmation  of  their  views. 

“  Again,  these  facts  convince  us  of  the  necessity  of  widening  the 
domain  of  recognized  science  and  its  methods  and  means  for  the 
exploration  of  the  invisible  and  unknown  world,  of  the  existence 
of  which  we  have  in  our  hearts  from  childhood  so  clear,  so  simple, 
and  so  warm  a  presentiment.  N.  Wagner.” 


CHAPTER  NINTH. 


THEORETICAL;  “THE  FOURTH  DIMENSION.”— PROFESSOR  nARE’S  EXPERI¬ 
MENTS. —  FURTHER  EXPERIMENTS  OF  THE  AUTHOR  WITH  SLADE. — COINS  TRANS¬ 
FERRED  FROM  CLOSED  AND  FASTENED  BOXES.— CLAIRVOYANCE. 

Passing  on  to  the  account  of  further  experiments  with  Mr.  Slade, 
I  take  those  on  the  first  instance  which  I  had  devised  on  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  the  extended  conception  of  space  *  ( Raum-anschauung ) 
—  for  the  purpose  of  experimental  proofs  of  the  reality  of  a  fourth 
dimension. 

Among  these  proofs  there  is  none  so  instructive  and  convincing 
as  the  transport  of  material  bodies  from  a  space  enclosed  on  every 
side.  Although  for  our  three-dimensional  intuition  such  a  space 
apparently  allows  of  no  other  exit  than  through  the  material 
boundaries,  yet  from  the  fourth  dimension  it  can  be  opened,  and 
thus  the  transport  of  the  body  in  this  direction  can  be  effected 
without  disturbance  of  the  three-dimensional  material  walls.  Since 
the  so-called  intuition  of  a  four-dimensional  space  is  wanting  to  us, 
as  three-dimensional  beings,  we  can  only  form  to  ourselves  a  con¬ 
ception  of  this  proceeding  by  an  analogy  taken  from  the  next  lower 
region  of  space.  Suppose  in  a  plane  a  figure  of  two  dimensions 


•The  philosophical  sense  of  the  word  intuition  (Anurhauung)  may  have  some 
difficulty  for  non-metaphysical  English  readers.  With  us  it  usually  denotes  an 
internal  sense;  in  German  philosophy  it  is  the  act  of  perception,  whether  of  the 
external  or  internal  sense,  before  all  application  of  the  categories  of  the  under¬ 
standing  by  which  the  “  matter”  of  the  perception  becomes  an  “object.”  In  the 
Kantian  philosophy,  which  Zollner  follows,  space  and  time  are  intuitional 
“forms.”  The  word  Atischiiuuug  is  translated  intuition  and  conception  at  differ¬ 
ent  places  as  the  context  seems  to  require.— Tr. 


136 


TRANSCENPEXTAb  PHYSICS. 


enclosed  by  a  line  on  every  side,  in  which  is  a  movable  object. 
By  movements  only  in  the  plane  that  object  could  not  escape  from 
the  interior  of  that  two-dimensionally  enclosed  space  otherwise 
than  by  an  opening  of  the  line  of  enclosure.  But  if  the  object 
were  capable  of  a  movement  in  the  third  dimension,  it  would  need 
only  to  be  raised  perpendicularly  to  the  plane,  to  be  passed  over, 
and  let  down  again  on  the  other  side  of  the  line.  To  two-dimen¬ 
sional  beings  who  reasoned  on  the  assumption  that  only  such  move¬ 
ments  were  possible  as  they  could  intuitively  represent  to  them¬ 
selves,  i.e.,  only  two-dimensional  movements,  the  proceeding  just 
described  would  seem  a  miracle.  For  the  body  which  they  sup¬ 
pose  to  be  completely  enclosed  must  at  a  certain  spot  transiently 
vanish  for  them,  in  order  suddenly  to  reappear  at  another  spot. 
Although  similar  facts  have  been  so  frequently  observed  at  spiritu¬ 
alistic  seances,  and  publicly  testified  to  by  the  most  credible  and 
intelligent  men,  yet  as  an  introduction  to  the  description  of  my 
own  experiments,  I  cannot  omit  to  impart  the  following  fact 
observed  by  the  celebrated  American  scientist  and  chemist,  Pro¬ 
fessor  Hare.* 

♦Robert  Hare,  Doctor  of  Medicine,  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  in  Philadelphia;  born  1781,  died  May  15,  1858.  In  Poggendotff's 
l.lterary  Biographical  Dictionary,  from  which  I  have  taken  the  above  particu¬ 
lars,  will  be  found  a  catalogue,  tilling  a  whole  columu,  of  Hare’s  numerous  chemi¬ 
cal  and  physical  treatises.  In  text-books  of  Physics  his  name  survives  in  the  so- 
called  “Hare’s  Spiral,”  a  galvanic  element,  in  which  a  copper  and  zinc  plate, 
properly  separated  by  bad  conductors,  are  rolled  over  one  another  for  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  the  greatest  possible  surface.  With  this  arrangement,  previously  to 
the  construction  of  constant  batteries,  very  strong  effects  of  light  and  heat 
could  be  produced.  The  treatise  of  Hare's  referred  to  is  published  in  Tilloch’s 
Philosophical  Magazine,  of  the  year  1837,  under  the  title  “  New  Voltaic  Battery.” 

In  his  later  years  Professor  Hare  undertook,  as  a  true  man  of  science,  the  most 
thorough  experimental  investigation  of  the  phenomena  of  Spiritualism,  for 
which,  in  his  country,  convenient  opportunities  offered.  He  even  evinced  his 
acuteness  in  this  liehl  in  the  construction  of  suitable  apparatus  and  instruments. 
One  of  these  he  named  the  “  spiritoscope.”  It  consisted  of  an  apparatus  con¬ 
nected  with  a  cipher-plate  and  index,  similar  to  that  which  was  applied  to  the 
first  electric  telegraphs.  A  detailed  description,  with  picture,  of  this  ingenious 
apparatus,  in  which  the  motions  of  the  index  are  completely  concealed  from  the 
medium,  will  be  found  in  the  pamphlet,  Experimental  Investigations  of  Spirit- 
Manifestations,  by  Dr.  Robert  Hare,  Professor  of  Chemistry,  &e.,  &e.,”  German 
edition  by  Alex.  Aksakow,  Leipsic,  1874,  Mutze. 


EXPERIMENTS  OF  DR.  HARE. 


137 


It  is  that  described  by  State  Councillor  Aksakow  in  Psychische 
Studien  (edited  by  him)  in  the  July  number  of  this  year  (1879), 
under  the  title  “Some  Experiments  of  Professor  Hare  Coufirma- 
toiy  of  Zollner’s  Experiments.”  I  confine  myself  here  to  the  first 
experiment,  described  in  a  letter  published  on  the  1st  of  May, 
1858,  by  an  eye-witness,  Dr.  S.  A.  Peters,  who  had  visited  Pro¬ 
fessor  Hare  in  his  laboratory,  in  order  himself  to  witness  some  of 
tho  remarkable  phenomena  which  Hare  had  publicly  reported.  The 
letter  is  addressed  to  the  editor  of  The  Spiritual  Telegraph ,  and 
is  as  follows :  — ■ 


“PuiLADELruiA,  April  18,  1858. 

“  Mr.  Editor, —  Finding  myself  in  this  city  on  a  visit  from  the 
State  of  Missouri,  I  availed  myself  of  the  opportunity  to  visit  Pro¬ 
fessor  Hare,  in  order  to  see  what  new  developments  or  discoveries 
he  has  made  in  Spiritualism.  I  have  no  doubt  that  a  history  of 
the  most  astonishing  spiritual  manifestations  which  are  now  tak¬ 
ing  place  in  the  Professor’s  laboratory  will  shortly  be  given  to  the 
public. 

“  I  will  now  confirm  what  I  saw  myself.  Dr.  Dare,  the  medium 
(a  young  man  named  Ituggles,  of  from  eighteen  to  nineteen  years, 
to  whom  I  was  quite  a  stranger  when  t  entered  the  laboratory), 
and  myself,  were  the  only  persons  present.  'The  medium  sat  down 
in  front  of  tho  spiritoscope,  which  stood  on  the  table  in  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  the  room.  Dr.  Hare  and  I  sat  opposite  and  close  to  the 
table.  After  some  minutes  it  was  said  to  us  through  the  spirito¬ 
scope,  ‘  Let  Dr.  S.  A.  Peters  put  two  glass  tubes  of  Russian  metal 
in  the  box.’  Dr.  Hare  thereupon  left  his  seat,  and  fetched  me 
two  glass  tubes  of  about  six  inches  length,  and  half  an  inch  diame¬ 
ter,  hermetically  sealed  at  the  ends,  and  also  two  pieces  of  Rus¬ 
sian  platinum,  each  of  the  shape  of  a  common  musket-ball.  I 
first  examined  the  box  in  which  I  was  to  deposit  these  objects.  It 
stood  on  the  table  before  me.  It  resembled  a  writing-desk  :  was 
about  two  feet  long  and  half  a  foot  broad,  four  to  eight  inches 
deep,  and  had  a  lid  which  let  down  slantwise,  with  hiuges  and  a 


138 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


lock.  In  this  box  I  placed  the  two  glass  tubes  and  the  balls  of 
platinum, —  there  was  nothing  else  in  it, —  and  locked  it.  Dr. 
Hare  and  I  then  took  our  seats  as  before,  and  the  medium,  Mr. 
Buggies.  continued  at  the  spiritoscope.  After  the  lapse  of  fifty- 
tivc  minutes  there  was  said  through  the  spiritoscope,  ‘We  have  a 
present  for  Dr.  S.  A.  Peters;  let  him  go  to  the  box  and  fetch  it.’ 
Hereupon  I  went  to  the  box,  which  was  only  a  single  foot  from 
me,  opened  it,  and  fouud — the  two  pieces  of  Russian  platinum 
inside  the  two  hermetically  sealed  glass  tubes. 

“I  will  make  no  observations  on  the  above.  What  I  have  seen 
I  hold  it  to  be  my  duty  to  make  known  to  the  world.  I  have  no 
other  interest  in  making  the  above  statement  than  the  desire  to 
serve  my  fellow-men.  S.  A.  Peters.” 

I  go  now  to  the  account  of  similar  experiments,  which  have  suc¬ 
ceeded  with  me  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Slade,  but  which  have  a 
yet  higher  interest  for  me,  in  that  they  have  produced  in  me  a  con¬ 
viction  of  the  reality  of  the  so-called  clairvoyance,  or  clear-seeing. 

On  the  5th  May,  1878,  at  about  twenty-live  minutes  past  four, 
Mr.  Slade,  Ilerr  Oscar  von  Hoffmann,  and  I  took  our  places  at  the 
table,  and  in  the  sun-lighted  room,  of  which  a  photographic  copy  is 
seen  in  the  frontispiece.  Besides  a  number  of  slates,  purchased 
by  myself,  there  lay  upon  the  table  other  things,  among  them  two 
small  cardboard  boxes,  in  which,  at  Slade’s  lirst  residence  at  Leip- 
sic,  in  December,  1877, 1  had  put  some  pieces  of  money,  and  then 
firmly  plastered  it  up  outside  with  strips  of  paper.  I  had  already 
at  that  time  been  in  hopes  of  the  removal  of  the  enclosed  pieces  of 
money  without  opening  of  the  boxes.  However,  my  friends  and  I 
were  so  astonished  aud  occupied  with  the  multitude  of  the  other 
phenomena  which  happened  at  Slade’s  first  and  second  visits  to 
Lcipsic  (November  and  December,  1877)  that  I  abandoned ‘the 
above-mentioned  experiment  for  the  time,  and  postponed  it  till 
Slade’s  return  to  Lcipsic.  One  of  these  boxes  was  in  form  circular, 
and  within  it  was  a  large  piece  of  money;  this  box  was  firmly  fast¬ 
ened  by  a  strip  of  paper,  the  breadth  of  which  corresponded  to  the 


AN  EXPERIMENT  WITH  COINS. 


139 


height  of  the  bos,  and  its  length  much  exceeded  the  circuit  of  the 
box ;  so  indeed  that  first  the  strip  of  paper  was  spread  with  liquid 
glue  on  one  side  over  its  whole  length  and  breadth,  and  was  then 
stuck  several  times  round  the  box,  so  that  the  latter,  after  the  fast¬ 
ening,  presented  the  appearance  of  a  low  cylinder  of  pasteboard. 
The  other  box  was  rectangular,  of  the  same  sort  as  those  in  which 
steel  pens  are  kept.  In  this  box  1  had  put  two  small  pieces  of 
money,  and  had  then  closed  it  by  sticking  a  strip  of  paper  round  it, 
perpendicularly  to  its  length,  by  means  of  liquid  glue. 

As  mentioned  above,  I  had  already,  in  December,  1877,  fast¬ 
ened  up  these  boxes,  and  as  I  had  observed  neither  the  value  of 
the  enclosed  coius  nor  their  date  I  could  afterwards  only  ascertain 
by  the  noise  from  shaking  the  boxes;  that  enclosed  in  the  circular 
one  was  a  large  German  coin  (a  thaler  or  a  live-mark  piece),  in 
the  rectangular  one  two  smaller  coins;  whether  these  were  pen¬ 
nies,  grosehen,  or  five-groschen  pieces  I  had,  after  the  lapse  of 
half  a  year,  at  the  time  of  Slade’s  last  stay  in  Leipsic,  entirely  for¬ 
gotten. 

After  we  had  taken  our  places  at  the  card-table  on  the  above- 
mentioned  day  in  the  manner  described,  I  took  up  the  round  box, 
and  satisfied  myself,  by  shaking,  of  the  presence  of  the  coin  1  had 
enclosed  in  it.  Herr  O.  von  Hoffmann  did  the  same,  and  lastly 
Mr.  Slade,  who  asked  us  for  what  purpose  I  had  designed  this 
box.  I  explained  my  purpose  in  a  few  words,  and  at  the  same 
time  declared  that  it  would  be  one  of  the  finest  confirmations  of 
the  reality  of  the  fourth  dimension,  if  his  invisible  iutelligeut 
beings  succeeded  in  removing  that  coin  from  the  box  without  open¬ 
ing  it.  Slade,  ready,  as  always,  to  conform  to  my  wish,  took  in 
the  usual  manner  one  of  the  slates  which  lay  at  hand,  laid  a  mor¬ 
sel  of  slate-pencil  upon  it  (indeed,  as  it  happened,  a  considerably 
larger  one  than  usual),  and  held  the  slate  with  his  right  hand  half 
under  the  table.  We  heard  writing,  and  when  the  slate  was 
drawn  out,  there  was  found  upon  it  the  request  to  lay  a  secon  1 
piece  of  pencil  on  the  slate,  which  was  done.  Then  Slade,  who 
sat  at  my  left  (  Von  Hoffmann  was  on  my  right),  held  the  slate 


140 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


with  the  two  bits  of  pencil  again  under  the  table,  while  lie  as  well 
as  we  waited  intently  what  should  come  there.  Meanwhile  the 
two  fastened-up  boxes  lay  untouched  on  about  the  middle  of  the 
table.  Some  minutes  passed  without  anything  happening,  when 
Slade  gazed  fixedly  in  a  particular  direction  in  the  comer  of  the 
room,  and  at  the  same  time  said,  quite  astonished,  but  slowly,  the 
words  dragged  after  one  another,  and  partly  with  repetition :  “  I 
see  —  see  funf  and  eighteen  hundred  seventy-six.”  Neither  Slade 
nor  we  knew  what  that  could  mean,  and  both  Herr  0.  von  Hoff¬ 
mann  and  myself  remarked  almost  simultaneously  that,  at  any  rate, 
“funf”  signified  “funf”  (five),  and  made  the  sum  of  the  addition 
5  +  1870=1881.  While  1  threw  out  this  remark  half  in  jest,  we 
heard  a  hard  object  fall  on  the  slate,  which  Slade  during  all  the 
time  had  held  under  the  table  with  his  right  hand  (the  left  lying 
before  us  on  the  table).  The  slate  was  immediately  drawn  out, 
and  on  it  was  found  the  five-mark  piece,  with  the  date  1876. 
Naturally  I  forthwith  snatched  up  the  pasteboard  box,  standing 
before  me,  and  which  during  all  the  foregoing  had  been  touched 
by  nobody,  to  ascertain,  by  shaking,  the  absence  of  the  piece  of 
money  which  had  been  in  it  half  an  hour  before;  and,  behold!  it 
was  quite  empty  and  silent ;  the  box  was  robbed  of  its  contents  in 
the  shape  of  the  five-mark  piece. 

As  may  bo  supposed,  our  pleasure  at  such  an  unhoped-for  suc¬ 
cess  of  our  experiment  was  extremely  great;  all  the  more  that  by 
it  at  the  same  time  was  established  the  existence  of  a  direct  per¬ 
ception  of  objects,  not  effected  in  the  ordinary  way  of  our  sense- 
conceptions. 

Moreover,  it  could  not  be  any  so-called  thought-reading  by  the 
medium ;  that  is,  the  perception  of  representations  already  in  the 
heads  of  human  beings.  For  neither  I,  and  much  less  Mr.  Slade 
and  Herr  von  Hoffmann,  knew  what  sort  of  coin  there  uras  in  the 
box,  nor  what  date  it  bore. 

I  was  so  satisfied  with  the  success  of  this  experiment  under  such 
stringent  conditions  that  I  was  thinking  of  putting  an  end  to  the 
sitting,  and  postponing  further  attempts  to  a  later  one.  However, 


Plao 


THE  EXPERIMENT  SUCCESSFUL. 


145 


Slade  remarked  that  he  did  not  feel  himself  at  all  exhausted  by  the 
sitting,  which  had  lasted  at  most  ten  minutes.  This  remark  of 
Slade  caused  us  to  keep  our  places  at  the  card-table,  and  to  engage 
in  unconstrained  conversation  with  him.  I  introduced  the  subject 
of  his  sitting  with  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine  of  Russia,  and 
requested  him  to  give  us  a  detailed  account  of  the  phenomena 
which  took  place  at  it,  as  hitherto  we  had  seen  only  the  brief  para¬ 
graph  statement  about  them  in  the  press.  Thus  urged,  Slade  men¬ 
tioned  that  a  very  remarkable  experiment  in  slate-writing  had  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  the  presence  of  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine.  Acci¬ 
dentally  there  had  been  two  bits  of  pencil  on  the  slate ;  when  he 
held  it  under  the  table  the  writing  of  two  pencils  was  heard  at  the 
same  time,  and  when  he  drew  out  the  slate  the  one  pencil  had 
written  from  left  to  right,  the  other,  at  the  same  time,  from  right 
to  left.  I  at  once  proposed  to  try  whether  this  experiment  would 
succeed  also  with  us;  the  suggestion  arose  from  me  quite  natu¬ 
rally,  from  the  association  of  ideas  elicited  by  the  two  bits  of  pen¬ 
cil  which  had  been  required  in  the  above-mentioned  experiment, 
without  our  having  as  yet  known  the  object  of  this  written 
demand. 

Slade,  at  once  ready  to  comply  with  my  wish,  held  the  slate 
with  the  two  bits  of  pencil  under  the  table-surface,  and  we  soon 
heard,  very  clearly,  writing  upon  it. 

When  the  slate  was  withdrawn  there  was  a  communication  in 
English  as  follows  :  — 


“  10  —  Pfennig —  1876 
2  —  Pfennig  — 1875. 

Let  this  be  proof  to  you  of  clairvoyance.  After  the  nine  days  you 
must,  rest,  or  it  will  harm  you  and  the  medium.  Believe  in  me, 
your  friend.” 

We  at  once  referred  the  first  part  of  this  message  to  the  two 
coins  contained  in  the  rectangular  box  still  unopened.  1  was  just 
about  to  open  it,  we  having  immediately  before  convinced  our- 


14G 


TKANSCENDKNTAL  PHYSICS. 


selves  by  shaking  the  box  and  the  distinct  jingling  within  it,  of  the 
presence  of  the  two  smaller  coins,  yet  without  knowing  the  value 
or  date  of  them.  Suddenly,  however,  I  changed  my  intention, 
and  set  the  little  box  again  uninjured  on  the  middle  of  the  table, 
while  as  well  Herr  von  Hoffmann  as  also  Slade  suggested  the 
possibility  that  perhaps  the  two  coins,  in  like  manner  as  shortly 
before  the  five-mark  piece,  might  fall  from  tho  unopened  box  upon 
the  slate  held  underneath.  Immediately  upon  this  suggestion,  Slade 
again  held  an  empty  slate  under  the  middle  of  the  table.  Scarcely 
was  this  done,  when  we  distinctly  heard  two  coins  drop  down  on  the 
surface  of  the  slate,  and  on  closer  examination,  the  above  state¬ 
ments  on  the  slate  we,  in  fact,  found  confirmed.  Highly  delighted, 
I  now  seized  the  still  closed  box  in  the  confident  expectation  that 
it  would,  like  the  round  box,  be  empty,  and  that,  therefore,  on 
shaking  no  rattling  within  would  be  heard.  How  great  was  my 
surprise  when  nevertheless  the  rattling  happened,  proceeding,  in¬ 
deed,  likewise  from  two  bodies,  which  yet,  judging  from  the 
altered  character  of  the  sound,  could  not  be  coins.  Already  I 
was  intending  to  convince  myself  of  the  contents  of  the  box  by  open¬ 
ing  it,  which  could  not  be  done  without  tearing  the  strips  of  paper 
pasted  over  it,  when  Slade  prepared  to  get  our  question  answered, 
as  usual  in  such  cases,  through  slate-writing,  by  his  “spirits.” 
Scarcely  had  he  taken  a  slate  with  a  fragment  of  pencil  lying  upon 
it,  and  held  it  half  under  the  table,  when  we  distinctly  heard  writ¬ 
ing.  Upon  the  upper  surface  of  the  slate  was  written  in  English  — 

“  The  two  slate-pencils  are  in  the  box.” 

In  fact  the  two  larger  pieces  of  slate-pencil  were  nowhere  to 
be  found,  and  when  I  now  opened  the  box  by  tearing  the  strip  of 
paper  glued  to  it,  there  within  it,  to  our  delight,  were  both  the 
pieces  of  pencil. 

The  foregoing  facts  are  of  great  value  in  a  three-fold  aspect. 
First,  there  is  proved  the  occurrence  of  writing  under  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  Slade,  the  purport  of  which  was  necessarily  unknown  to 
him  before.  It  is  consequently  impossible  that  these  writings  occur 


FOURTH  DIMENSION  EXPLAINS  CLAIRVOYANCE. 


147 


under  tbe  influence  of  the  conscious  will  of  Slade,  whatever  modus 
operandi  is  presupposed. 

Secondly,  the  apparent,  so-called  passage  through  matter  is 
proved  in  a  highly  elegant  and  compendious  manner.  In  order  to 
reach  by  the  shortest  way  the  surface  of  the  slate,  the  coins  must 
apparently  have  penetrated  not  only  the  walls  of  the  box,  but  also 
about  20  millimetres  thickness  of  the  oak  table.  The  two  slate- 
pencils  must  have  traveled  the  same  way  in  a  reverse  direction 
from  the  surface  of  the  slate. 

Thirdly ,  by  these  experiments  an  incontrovertible  proof  is 
afforded  of  the  reality  of  so-called  clairvoyance,  and  that  in  a 
double  way.  The  first  time,  with  the  five-mark  piece,  the  con¬ 
tents  of  the  closed  box  appeared  in  the  form  of  a  definite  repre¬ 
sented  image  in  Slade’s  intuitional  life;  he  “  saw  ”  the  numbers  5 
and  1876.  The  second  time  this  was  not  the  case;  but  the  con¬ 
tents  were  communicated  to  us  in  the  form  of  written  characters  on 
the  slate.  The  contents  of  this  rectangular  box  must  therefore 
have  existed  as  imaged  in  another,  not  a  thrce-dimeusionally  incor¬ 
porated  intelligence,  before  that  represented  image  could  be  trans¬ 
mitted  to  us  by  the  aid  of  writing.  Hereby  is  proved,  as  it  seems 
to  me,  in  a  very  cogent  manner  the  existence  of  intelligent  beings, 
invisible  to  us,  and  of  their  active  participation  in  our  experiments. 

I  have  already  shown  that  the  whole  phenomenon  of  clairvoy¬ 
ance  admits  of  a  very  easy  and  natural  explanation  by  help  of  the 
fourth  dimension.  From  the  direction  of  the  fourth  dimension, 
the,  to  us,  three-dimensionally  enclosed  space  must  be  regarded  as 
appearing  open,  and  indeed  in  an  interval  from  the  place  of  our 
body  so  much  tbe  greater  the  higher  the  soul  is  raised  to  the 
fourth  dimension.  At  the  same  time,  with  the  increasing  eleva¬ 
tion  to  this  fourth  dimension  there  is  a  widening  of  the  overlooked 
space  of  three  dimensions,  just  as  by  elevation  above  the  surface 
of  the  earth  there  is,  according  to  geometrical  laws,  a  widening  of 
the  overlooked  two-dimensional  expanse.  Also  in  thrce-diincn- 
sioual  space,  representations  of  the  changes  of  place  of  our  bo  ly 
at  rest,  as  for  example,  when  we  are  in  the  car  of  a  balloon,  are 


TRANSCENDENTAL  RHYSICS. 


148 

produced  merely  by  changes  in  the  appearances  oE  objects.  The 
manner  in  which  this  happens,  for  instance,  in  our  present  organi¬ 
zation  by  help  of  the  sense  of  sight,  is  only  a  modification  of  the 
above-mentioned  general  fact,  and  depends,  as  observed,  upon  the 
changeable  forms  of  the  organic  disposition  ;  that  is,  of  our  body, 
through  which  the  representations  of  our  soul  are  mediated.  Thus 
Slade’s  soul  was,  in  the  first  case,  so  far  raised  in  the  fourth 
dimension  that  the  contents  of  the  box  in  front  of  him  were  visi¬ 
ble  in  particular  detail.  In  the  second  case,  one  of  those  intelli¬ 
gent  beings  of  the  fourth  dimension  looked  down  upon  us  from 
such  a  height  that  the  contents  of  the  rectangular  box  were  visible 
to  him,  and  lie  could  describe  its  contents  upon  the  slate  by  means 
of  the  pencil. 

It  is  of  iuterest  to  compare  the  theory  of  clear-seeing  here  indi¬ 
cated  with  the  description  of  this  condition  by  persons  who  have 
become  clairvoyant  by  being  thrown  into  the  so-called  magnetic 
sleep  by  a  “  magnetiser.”  In  accordance  with  the  above  theory, 
and  the  principle  of  continuity,  we  should  expect  that  from  the 
beginning  of  the  clairvoyant  condition  its  increasing  development 
must  be  attended  with  a  spatial  widening  of  the  three-dimensional 
circle  of  sight,  that  is,  bodies  must  gradually  become  transparent 
in  continually  greater  intervals ;  quite  in  analogy  with  the  increas¬ 
ing  number  of  objects  which  we  perceive  by  continual  elevation 
above  the  earth.  This  supposition  appears  to  be  confirmed  in  fact 
by  the  descriptions  of  the  American  clairvoyant  Davis,  who  depicts 
his  perceptions  in  the  magnetic  sleep  and  otherwise  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  words :  —  * 

“  The  sphere  of  my  vision  now  began  to  widen.  .  .  .  Next,  I 
could  distinctly  perceive  the  walls  of  the  house.  At  first  they 
seemed  very  dark  and  opaque ;  but  soon  became  brighter,  and 
then  transparent:  and  presently  I  could  see  the  walls  of  the 
adjoining  dwelling.  These  also  immediately  became  light,  and  van¬ 
ished, —  melting  like  clouds  before  my  advancing  vision.  I  could 


*  The  Magic  S  (iff.  an  autobiography,  by  Andrew  Jackson  Davis,  p.  217  (13tU 
edition).  New  York,  li>7U. 


TTIE  CRITERION  OF  OR.TECTIVITY. 


119 


now  see  the  objects,  the  furniture,  and  persons,  in  the  adjoining 
bouse  as  easily  as  those  in  the  room  where  I  was  situated.  At 
this  moment  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  operator.  He  inquired,  ‘if 
I  could  hear  him  speak  plainly :  ’  I  replied  in  the  affirmative.  lie 
then  asked  concerning  my  feelings,  and  ‘  whether  I  could  discern 
anything.’  On  my  replying  affirmatively,  he  desired  me  to  con¬ 
vince  some  persons  who  were  present,  by  reading  the  title  of  a 
book,  with  the  lids  closed,  behind  four  or  five  other  books.  Hav¬ 
ing  tightly  secured  my  bodily  eyes  with  handkerchiefs,  he  then 
placed  the  books  in  a  horizontal  line  with  my  forehead,  and  I  saw 
and  read  the  title  without  the  slightest  hesitation.  This  test  and 
many  experiments  of  the  kind  were  tried  and  repeated ;  and  the 
demonstration  of  vision,  independent  of  the  physical  organs  of 
sense,  was  clear  and  unquestionable.  .  .  .  But  my  perception 
still  flowed  on !  The  broad  surface  of  the  earth,  for  many  hun¬ 
dred  miles,  before  the  sweep  of  my  visiou  —  describing  nearly  a 
semicircle — became  transparent  as  the  purest  water;  .  .  and  I 
saw  the  brains,  the  viscera,  and  the  complete  anatomy  of  animals 
that  were  (at  that  moment)  sleeping  or  prowling  about  in  the  for¬ 
ests  of  the  Eastern  Hemisphere,  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of 
miles  from  the  room  in  which  I  was  making  these  observations.” 

Confidence  in  the  above  description  of  subjective  representations 
in  the  magnetic  and  clairvoyant  condition  being  presupposed,  and 
that  these  representations  can  also  be  repeated  and  confirmed, 
according  to  a  law,  by  other  individuals  under  other  conditions  in 
the  clairvoyant  state,  there  would  be  connected  with  the  increased 
duration  and  depth  of  the  magnetic  sleep  an  extension  of  the 
field  of  our  cubical  vision  similar  to  the  extension  of  our  field  of 
quadratic  vision,  according  to  the  laws  of  perspective,  which  is 
associated  with  elevation  over  the  earth. 

The  ascertainment  of  these  laws  of  perspective  for  space  intui¬ 
tion  widened  by  a  dimension  would  first  of  all  be  the  task  of 
geometry,  just  as  the  elements  of  Euclid  must  have  been  known 
and  have  become  the  common  property  of  physicists  and  astrono¬ 
mers  before  the  spatial  significance  of  celestial  phenomena  could 


150  TUANSCENDENTAE  piiystcs. 

lie  thought.  That  intuitional  images,  or  representations  of  objects 
of  sight  clothed  with  all  the  attributes  of  sense,  arise,  change  and 
disappear  iu  our  soul  without  the  intervention  of  the  physical  sight 
is  proved  by  dreams,  hallucinations,  and  illusions.  Of  the  causes 
by  which  these  representations  are  produced  in  us  we  know  noth¬ 
ing,  and  can  therefore  only  advance  hypotheses  about  them.  But 
if  we  ask  ourselves  wherein  consists  the  difference  between  these 
images  and  those  which  are  produced  in  us  in  daily  life  by  means 
of  the  sense  of  sight,  we  see  that  there  is  greater  vivacity,  regu¬ 
larity,  and  continuity  in  the  latter.  But  the  essential  criterion  for 
the  fact  that  the  latter  class  of  representations  have  real  objects  in 
an  external  world  corresponding  to  them  is  the  geometrical  crite¬ 
rion, —  that  is,  the  possibility  for  our  understanding  to  refer  a  part 
of  the  changes  and  differences  of  those  representations  to  the  geo¬ 
metrical  laws  of  remoteness  and  position.  Should  the  same  hold 
good  of  the  former  class  of  representations, —  those  not  obtained 
through  the  sense  of  sight, —  we  should  be  compelled  to  relate 
these  also  to  real  objects  iu  an  external  world,  no  matter  whether 
the  requisite  geometrical  laws  are  to  be  sought  in  space  as  hitherto 
conceived,  or  as  widened  by  a  dimension. 

In  both  cases,  however,  the  causes  by  which  those  images  are 
produced  remain  unknown  to  us  so  long  as  their  homogeneity  can¬ 
not  be  experimentally  proved.  We  know  from  internal  experience 
that  our  will  is  able  up  to  a  certain  degree,  by  means  of  the  so- 
called  force  of  imagination,  to  produce  at  pleasure  representations 
of  objects  of  sight  in  our  own  soul.  In  this  case  we  recognize  our 
own  will  as  the  cause  of  our  representations.  If,  now,  experiments 
could  be  instituted,  in  which  this  individual  will  of  a  single  man 
could  produce  iu  like  manner,  at  pleasure,  representative  images 
in  the  soul  of  another,  spatially  separate  from  the  willing  subject, 
these  images  being  clothed  with  all  the  attributes  of  reality  which 
we  ascribe  to  the  so-called  real  or  actual  world  surrounding  us, 
thereby  would  experimental  proof  be  afforded  that  the  phenome¬ 
non  of  a  real  external  world  can  be  produced  and  evoked  by  an 
individual  will,  matched  with  intelligence,  iu  another  individual. 


MESMERIC  INFLUENCE. 


151 


But  in  that  case  it  would  be  a  necessary  conclusion,  according  to 
the  principles  of  scientific  induction,  to  accept  also  a  qualitatively 
similar  cause  for  the  representation  of  our  whole  real  corporeal 
world, —  that  is,  an  individual  will  combined  with  intelligence,  how¬ 
ever  much  that  individual  will  may  excel  the  human  will  in  strength 
and  intelligence  quantitatively.  I  maintain  that  the  above  induc¬ 
tion  is  scientifically  and  logically  necessary,  and,  moreover,  the 
only  possible  one  open  to  a  rationally  operating  understanding. 
Newton  asserts  the  same  in  the  third  book  of  his  Principia  in  the 
third  Regular  Philosophandi  in  the  following  words:  — 

“  Ideoque  cffectuum  naturalium  ejusdem  generis  ecedeni  assig- 
nandce  sunt  causae  quatcnus  fieri  potest;  —  utique  respirationis 
in  homine  et  in  bestia;  descensus  lapidum  in  Europa  et  America; 
lucis  in  igne  culinari  et  in  Sole  ;  refiexionis  lucis  in  terra  et  in 
planetis 

“  Therefore,  the  same  causes  are  to  be  assigned,  as  far  as  possi¬ 
ble,  of  natural  effects  of  the  same  kind ;  — as  of  respiration  in  man 
and  in  beast,  of  the  descent  of  stones  in  Europe  and  in  America; 
of  light  in  a  kitchen  fire  as  in  the  sun;  of  the  reflection  of  light 
on  the  earth  and  in  the  planets.” 

In  the  above  case  there  remains  only  the  question  whether  it  is 
experimentally  demonstrable  that  the  human  will  is  able  to  induce 
such  vivid  representations  in  the  consciousness  of  another  that  the 
latter  regards  them  altogether  as  he  regards  the  representations 
whose  causes  we  ordinarily  designate  as  real  objects,  or  “  bodies.” 
Experiments  of  this  kind  have  been,  in  fact,  publicly  instituted  in 
Germany,  by  the  magnetiser  Hansen,  of  such  a  surprising  and 
convincing  nature  that  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  the  reality  of  tliis 
influence  of  an  individual  intelligent  will  upon  another,  spatially 
distinct,  individual.*  Consequently  our  understanding  is  con¬ 
strained,  according  to  the  laws  of  scientific  induction  and  Newton’s 
third  Regular  Philosophandi,  to  accept  an  individual  will,  joined 

♦Later,  in  the  same  volume,  the  author  gives  a  detailed  account  of  the  experi¬ 
ments  referred  to.  The  English  reader  will  find  abundant  evidence  on  the  sub¬ 
ject  in  the  lab'  I’rofessor  Gregory’s  book  ou  Animal  Magnetism,  of  which  a  new 
edition  has  been  recently  published.  Harrison;  Loudon,  1377. —  Tr. 


TTtANSCEXDENTAL  PIIVSICS. 


152 

with  intelligence,  as  cause  and  author  of  that  world  of  representa¬ 
tions  which  surrounds  us  in  daily  life,  the  so-called  real  external 
world,  or  Nature.  Whether  this  intelligent  will  in  the  production 
of  our  human  world  of  representations  makes  use  of  numerous 
other  individual  and  intelligent  existenees,  or  whether  there  is  no 
other  individualization  of  intelligent  will  in  nature  than  human 
beings  and  animals,  so  that  that  highest  author  of  our  real  repre¬ 
sented  world  alone  influences  us,  directly  and  according  to  har¬ 
monious  laws,  is  for  the  present  a  question  of  secondary  import¬ 
ance.  This  only  is  established,  that  an  individual  being,  gifted 
with  intelligence  and  will,  must  be  presupposed  as  the  cause  of 
our  real  world  of  representations. 

I  may  here  point  out  that  the  foregoing  inductions  are  not  new 
and  peculiar  to  myself.  The  priority  is  incontestably  due  to  the 
English  philosopher  Berkeley,  a  contemporary  and  follower  of 
Newton.  In  his  celebrated  treatise  “  On  the  Principles  of  Human 
Knowledge  ”  (section  33)  Berkeley  remarks  :  — 

“The  ideas  impressed  on  the  senses  by  the  author  of  Nature  are 
called  real  things:  and  those  excited  in  the  imagination,  being  less 
regular,  vivid,  and  constant,  are  more  properly  termed  ideas,  or 
images  of  things,  which  they  copy  and  represent.  But  then  our 
sensations,  be  they  never  so  vivid  and  distinct,  are  nevertheless 
ideas,  that  is,  they  exist  in  the  mind,  or  are  perceived  by  it,  as 
truly  as  the  ideas  of  its  own  framing.  The  ideas  of  sense  are 
allowed  to  have  more  reality  in  them,  that  is,  to  be  more  strong, 
orderly,  and  coherent  than  the  creatures  of  the  mind;  but  this  is 
no  argument  that  they  exist  without  the  mind.  They  are  also  less 
dependent  in  the  spirit  or  thinking  substance  which  perceives  them, 
in  that  they  are  excited  by  the  will  of  another  and  more  powerful 
spirit;  yet  still  they  are  ideas,  and  certaiuly  no  idea,  whether  faint 
or  strong,  can  exist  otherwise  than  in  a  mind  perceiving  it.”  Cor¬ 
responding  to  this  deduction,  Berkeley,  in  his  30th  section  has  the 
following,  on  the  signification  of  the  laws  of  Nature :  “  The  ideas 
of  sense  are  more  strong,  lively,  and  distinct  than  those  of  the 
imagination;  they  have  likewise  a  steadiness,  order,  and  coherence, 


Berkeley’s  idealism. 


153 


and  arc  not  excited  at  random,  as  those  which  are  the  effects  of 
human  wills  often  are,  hut  in  a  regular  train  of  series, —  the  admir¬ 
able  connection  whereof  sufficiently  testifies  the  wisdom  and  benevo¬ 
lence  of  its  author.  Now  the  set  rules ,  or  established  methods 
wherein  the  mind  we  depend  on  excites  in  us  the  ideas  of  sense, 
arc  called  the  laws  of  nature  ;  and  these  we  learn  by  experience, 
which  teaches  us  that  such  and  such  ideas  are  attended  with  such 
and  such  other  ideas,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things.” 

After  this  digression,  I  return  to  my  experiments  with  Slade, 
and  will  first  describe  another  experiment,  by  which  the  above 
facts  with  some  modifications  were  essentially  confirmed. 


CHAPTER  TENTH. 


AN  EXPERIMENT  FOR  SKEPTICS.— A  WAGER. —  SLADE’S  SCRUPLES.  — A  RE¬ 
BUKE  BY  THE  SPIRITS.— AN  UNEXPECTED  RESULT.— CAPTIOUS  OBJECTIONS. 

In  order  to  satisfy  others,  who  have  not  personally  taken  part 
in  the  sittings  with  Slade,  of  the  reality  of  the  phenomena,  espe¬ 
cially  of  the  slate-writing  within  a  locked  double,  or  ‘book,’  slate, 
I  hit  upon  the  following  expedient.  I  had  bought  at  the  paper 
and  office-utensil  warehouse  of  F.  G.  Mylius,  in  this  place  (Mar¬ 
ket  No.  13),  a  great  number  of  such  book-slates  provided  with 
hinges.  These  bear  inside  on  the  polished  wooden  frames  the 
manufacture  mark  “A.  W.  Faber,  No.  38,”  are  rectangular,  and 
their  outer  extent  amounts  to  200  millimetres  in  length  and  184 
millimetres  in  breadth.  Since  the  breadth  of  the  wooden  frames 
is  20  millimetres,  there  remains  for  the  size  of  the  two  interior 
slate  surfaces  a  rectangular  surface  of  220  millimetres  in  length, 
and  144  millimetres  in  breadth.  Since  the  plane  of  the  wooden 
frame  overtops  that  of  the  slate-surface  within,  on  each  side,  by 
about  3  millimetres,  there  is  within  such  a  book-slate,  when  com¬ 
pletely  closed,  a  free  space  of  220  millimetres  length,  144  milli¬ 
metres  breadth,  and  6  millimetres  depth.  At  the  side  where  the 
hinges  arc  (which  are  very  solid,  of  brass,  and  20  millimetres 
broad)  the  edges  of  the  wooden  frame  shut  together  so  tight  that 
it  is  impossible  to  pass  between  them  any  object  of  appreciable 
thickness  (for  example  a  single  sheet  of  writing-paper),  and  so 
to  introduce  it  into  the  inner  space  of  the  closed  slate.  More¬ 
over,  the  interval  between  the  brass  hinges  —  each  fastened  by 

OS  4) 


FASTENING  A  COOK-SLATE. 


155 


six  wooden  screws  —  is  only  122  millimetres.  On  the  front  side, 
cacb  of  the  two  wooden  frames  has  a  pierced  cylindrical  brass 
spiral  of  15  millimetres  length,  and  6  millimetres  inner  aperture ; 
so  that,  the  slate  being  shut,  a  slate-pencil  can  be  stuck  through 
both  these  spirals,  by  which  means  the  two  slates  can  then  be 
firmly  closed  together.  When  thus  closed,  the  space  covered  by 
these  two  spirals  on  the  front  side  in  the  middle  of  the  wooden 
frame  amounts,  like  the  hinges,  to  40  millimetres,  while  between 
the  two  spirals  is  still  left  a  small  interval  of  3  millimetres.  On 
the  outside  the  slates  are  cased  with  brown  lacquered  wood. 

With  one  of  these  slates  I  betook  myself,  on  the  6th  May,  1878, 
in  the  forenoon,  to  the  residence  of  my  colleague  Wach,  Professor 
of  Criminal  Law  in  this  University,  and  imparted  to  him  my  above- 
mentioned  idea.  Professor  Wach  was  entirely  of  my  opinion,  that 
such  a  slate,  if  firmly  sealed  after  insertion  of  a  small  piece  of 
pencil,  and  then  written  upon  inside  in  the  presence  of  Slade, 
would  afford  convincing  proof,  even  for  persons  who  had  not  them¬ 
selves  taken  part  in  such  a  sitting,  of  the  reality  of  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  phenomena  occurring  in  Slade’s  presence.  My  col¬ 
league  was  also  ready  immediately  to  make  an  experiment  him¬ 
self  in  the  manner  proposed.  After  a  small  splinter  of  pencil,  of 
the  size  commonly  used  by  Slade,  was  laid  upon  one  of  the  slates, 
the  slate  was  shut  and  then  fastened  by  sticking  two  strips  of 
paper,  35  millimetres  broad,  with  liquid  glue  over  the  shorter  frame 
(184  millimetres  long).  Oyer  the  edges  of  the  strips  of  paper  so 
glued  on  Professor  Wach  also  placed  two  seals,  on  each  side,  im¬ 
pressed  with  his  own  signet.  The  strips  of  paper  were  intention¬ 
ally  inscribed  on  the  inner  side  to  facilitate  discovery  in  the  event 
of  an  artificial  reunion  after  tearing.  My  suggestion  to  place  two 
seals  also  on  the  front  side  for  greater  security,  my  colleague 
rejected  as  superfluous,  since  he  was  firmly  convinced  that  the 
securing  with  four  seals  completely  sufficed  already  for  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  any  artifice.  With  the  slate  thus  fastened  1  repaired 
to  the  residence  of  my  friend  Oscar  von  Hoffmann,  and  told  him 
my  design  in  this  way  to  induce  a  conviction  of  the  reality  of  some 


156 


TRANSCENDENTAL,  PHYSICS. 


remarkable  spiritualistic  facts  even  in  those  who  were  not  taking 
part  in  the  sittings.  I  gave  it,  at  the  same  time,  as  my  opinion 
that  it  would  be  much  more  convenient  for  strong  mediums  to  con¬ 
vince  the  world  of  their  innocence  in  this  way  than  by  public  or 
private  sittings;  and  that  Mr.  Slade  could  render  his  material 
existence  much  less  troublesome  and  full  of  care  by  simply  allow¬ 
ing  such  well-sealed  slates  to  be  sent  to  him,  for  a  fixed  price,  in 
order  to  be  returned  to  the  sender  when  written  upon.  Of  course 
the  whole  applicability  and  demonstrative  force  of  the  proceeding 
depends  on  the  presupposition  that  it  must  be  possible  so  to  secure 
such  a  double  slate  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  cleverest 
conjurer  or  other  artist  so  to  open  and  fasten  it  again  that  this 
operation  could  not  be  detected  by  the  sender  of  the  slate  on 
receiving  it  back.  In  principle,  indeed,  the  postal  authorities  and 
the  public  go  upon  this  assumption  in  the  transmission  of  well- 
sealed  letters  containing  money.  Consequently,  for  the  experi¬ 
mental  application  of  this  proceeding  with  respect  to  Slade’s  slate¬ 
writing,  the  condition  that  the  so  sealed  slates  should  not  be  acces¬ 
sible  to  Slade  before  the  sitting,  is  eoipso  dispensed  with.  For  it 
is  just  this  precaution  which  is  laid  aside  as  superfluous  by  reason 
of  the  secure  mode  of  fastening,  so  that  Mr.  Slade,  even  if  he 
wished  fraudulently  to  open  the  slate,  and  after  writing  on  it  a 
message,  to  close  it  up  again,  would  find  it  impossible  to  do  this 
without  discovery.  The  aim  of  the  whole  proceeding  would  thus 
fail,  if  the  condition  had  been  imposed  upon  me  to  keep  the  so 
sealed  slates  continually  under  my  care  and  observation  till  the 
sitting.  After  my  conversation  with  Herr  Oscar  von  Hoffmann, 
I  therefore  placed  that  slate  quietly  in  the  room  in  my  friend’s 
house  appointed  for  Slade’s  use.  Slade  himself,  §o  far  as  I  can 
recollect,  was  not  at  home  at  that  time ;  and  I  first  saw  him  again 
on  the  evening  of  that  day  (6th  May,  1878,  at  about  8.45)  for 
the  purpose  of  a  sitting.  After  some  words  of  greeting  I  took 
the  slate  from  the  closet  *  near  the  table,  and  explained  to  Mr. 

*  In  the  frontispiece,  showing  the  sitting-room,  will  be  seen  the  closet,  with 
other  objects  on  it,  among  the  rest  a  Mitchell’s  1'olarizing  Saccharometer. 


THE  SLATE  ADDITIONALLY  SEALED. 


157 


Slade,  who  now  apparently  saw  the  slate  for  the  first  time,  the 
object  I  had  in  view  in  regard  to  it.  We  both,  one  after  the  other, 
satisfied  ourselves,  by  shaking,  that  the  small  piece  of  pencil  was 
between  the  surfaces  of  the  two  slates.  I  now  laid  this  slate  on 
that  side  of  the  card-table  (to  Slade’s  left)  where  were  the  other 
slates  and  different  objects,  with  which  it  remained  lying  from  now 
continuously  under  my  eyes.  Immediately  after  laying  down  the 
slate  I  sat  with  Slade  at  the  card-table,  on  which  a  brightly-burn¬ 
ing  candle  stood.  Slade  hereupon  took  up  again  in  his  hands  the 
slate  referred  to,  I  narrowly  and  continually  watching  it,  and 
asked  me  whether  I  would  not  like  to  affix  two  seals  to  both  sides 
of  the  above-described  cylindrical  brass  spirals,  and  to  impress 
them  with  my  own  signet.  Having  the  latter  in  my  pocket,  and 
a  stick  of  sealing-wax  lying  on  the  table  among  other  writing  uten¬ 
sils,  I  at-  once,  on  the  above  words  of  Slade,  took  the  slate  with 
my  left  hand,  drew  the  signet  from  my  right  trouser  pocket,  laid 
it  on  the  table,  then  took  the  sealing-wax,  holding  the  slate  all  the 
time  with  my  left  hand,  with  the  wooden  edges  which  had  to  be 
sealed  turned  upwards.  Thereupon,  holding  these  edges  firmly 
pressed  together  with  my  left  hand,  I  placed  on  the  above-indi¬ 
cated  places  two  large  seals,  pn  which  I  pressed  my  signet.  When 
the  wax  had  become  cold,  the  two  wrooden  edges  of  the  closed 
slates  were  thus  so  tightly  connected  that  it  was  impossible  to  push 
a  sheet  of  paper  through  those  parts  which  were  not  stuck  with 
paper  and  seals.  Thereupon  I  laid  the  slate  so  fastened  upon  the 
table,  and  indeed  at  a  place  at  least  a  foot  and  a  half  removed 
from  Slade’s  hands,  which  lay  under  mine,  and  were  thereby  con¬ 
trolled.  I  now  joined  in  conversation  with  Slade,  and  asked  him, 
among  other  things,  whether  he  had  not  yet  tried,  instead  of  slate¬ 
writing,  to  obtain  writing  with  lead  pencil  and  paper,  since  this 
would  be  an  extremely  interesting  variation  of  the  direct  writing 
produced  in  his  presence.  Slade  replied  that  he  had  not,  but  was 
at  once  ready  to  make  the  attempt.  We  unlinked  our  hands,  and 
I  took  from  the  writing  utensils  lying  ready  on  the  table  a  half 
sheet  of  common  letter  paper  (219  millimetres  long,  143  millime- 


158 


TRANSCENDENTAL  niYSICS. 


trcs  broad,  manufacture  mark  Bath),  folded  it  again  about  the 
middle,  as  if  it  had  to  be  put  into  a  large  letter-cover  144  milli¬ 
metres  broad  and  110  millimetres  deep,  and  laid  between  the  two 
halves  of  this  sheet  a  cylindrical  piece  of  graphite  of  5  millimetres 
length,  and  1  millimetre  thickness,  such  as  is  used  for  lead-pencil 
holders.  I  was  about  to  lay  this  piece  of  paper,  so  folded  with  the 
bit  of  graphite  lying  in  the  fold,  under  the  above-described  sealed 
slate,  when  Slade,  under  control,  proposed  that  I  should  tear  o(F 
two  bits  from  a  comer  of  the  folded  paper  and  keep  these  by  me. 
I  at  once  recognized  the  importance  of  this  precaution,  to  estab¬ 
lish  the  identity  of  the  piece  of  paper  in  case  it  was  written  on,  or 
disappeared  and  reappeared  after  some  time.  Two  pieces  were 
therefore,  according  to  Slade’s  suggestion,  tOm  off  at  the  same 
time  from  one  comer  of  the  folded  half  sheet,  and  these  I  forth¬ 
with  put  into  the  gold-compartment  of  my  purse.  Then  the  slate 
was  again  laid  on  the  above-described  place  on  the  table,  and  under 
it  was  pushed  the  folded  half  sheet  of  letter  paper  with  the  stick 
of  graphite  lying  between  the  folds,  so  that  the  slate  completely 
covered  it.  We  next  laid  our  hands  again  upon  the  table,  as 
before,  Slade’s  hands  firmly  covered  by  mine,  and  thus  prevented 
from  moving. 

We  had  sat  quietly  in  this  position  for  some  time,  perhaps  five 
minutes,  but  nothing  worth  notice  occurred.  Slade  often  shuddered 
as  by  a  spasm  passing  through  him,  but  all  remained  quiet,  so  that 
we  became  impatient,  and  Slade  resorted  to  his  usual  expedient  of 
begging  information  from  his  spirits,  by  help  of  a  slate  held  half 
under  a  table.  We  unjoined  our  hands  for  this  purpose.  Slade 
took  the  uppermost  of  the  slates,  which  always  lay  in  readiness  at 
his  left,  bit  a  splinter  from  a  slate  pencil,  laid  it  on  the  slate,  and 
held  the  latter  with  his  left  hand  half  under  the  table,  while  he 
placed  his  right  hand  again  under  both  of  mine.  We  forthwith 
distinctly  heard  writing,  and  very  soon  afterwards  the  three  ticks 
(, tick-taclcs )  which  announced  that  the  writing  was  finished.  When 
the  slate  was  drawn  out  and  eagerly  examined  by  us,  the  follow¬ 
ing  words  were  upon  it, “Look  for  your  paper.”  I  immediately 


SUCCESS  OF  T1IE  EXPERIMENT.  159 

raised  the  sealed  slate  to  look  for  the  folded  sheet  of  letter 
paper  pushed  under  it,  with  the  bit  of  graphite  inside,  about 
five  minutes  before :  both  had  disappeared.  I  was  startled, 
indeed,  at  this  unexpected  phenomenon,  but  not  particularly  aston¬ 
ished,  since  I  had  already  in  earlier  sittings  witnessed  the  disap¬ 
pearance  and  reappearance  of  objects  so  abundantly  and  under 
such  stringent  conditions  that  this  fact  in  and  for  itself  offered 
nothing  any  longer  new  for  me.  I  looked  often  anxiously  to  the 
ceiling  of  the  room,  in  the  hope  that  the  paper  would  fall  down, 
by  good  chance  written  upon,  but  it  came  not,  nor  did  anything 
else  remarkable  happen.  I  therefore  desired  Slade  again  to  ask 
his  spirits  in  the  usual  manner,  which  he  at  once  did  by  means  of 
one  of  the  slates  lying  ready.  The  noise  of  writing  was  immedi¬ 
ately  heard,  and  on  the  slate  being  withdrawn,  was  upon  it  — 
“The  paper  is  between  the  slates,  and  it  is  written  on  it"  {sic). 
Highly  pleased  at  the  ingenious  combination  of  physical  and  intel¬ 
lectual  phenomena,  I  forthwith  seized  the  sealed  slate,  shook  it 
violently,  and  in  fact  distinctly  heard  the  shifting  movement  of  a 
paper  lying-  between  the  sides.  Notwithstanding  the  lateness  of 
the  hour  (it  was  about  half-past  ten  o'clock),  I  repaired  at  once 
to  the  residence  of  my  colleague  Wach,  in  order  that  the  double 
slate,  sealed  by  him  in  the  morning,  might  be  opened  in  his  pres¬ 
ence  and  by  himself.  However,  I  did  not  find  Professor  Wach 
at  home;  I  could  only  leave  word  that  I  would  come  again  the 
next  morning.  The  slate  itself  I  did  not  let  out  of  my  custody, 
and  took  it  with  me  to  my  residence  for  the  night.  Previously, 
I  returned  to  the  residence  of  my  friend  0.  von  Hoffmann,  and 
informed  him  of  my  fruitless  visit  to  my  colleague  Wach.  We 
decided  to  request  the  latter  the  next  day  to  go  with  us  (Von  Hoff¬ 
mann  and  me)  all  together  to  the  residence  of  my  colleague 
Thiersch,  there  to  open  the  sealed  slate  and  take  a  view  of  l lie 
contents.  Herr  Councillor  Thiersch  was  so  far  interested  in  this 
experiment  that  he  likewise  had  furnished  me  with  a  slate,  scaled 
with  the  greatest  care  and  circumspection,  for  application  to  the 
purpose  named.  The  continuing  and  advancing  phenomena,  and 


1  GO 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


the  certainty  with  which  they  presented  themselves  in  my  daily 
sittings  with  Slade  (morning  and  evening),  for  the  most  part 
immediately  we  had  taken  our  places  at  the  table,  had  so  raised 
my  confidence  in  the  success  of  all  my  proposed  experiments  that 
I  engaged  without  thinking  in  a  wager  with  my  colleague  Thiersch 
to  the  amount  of  300  marks,  which  in  event  of  failure  I  engaged 
to  pay  in  any  form  he  thought  proper.  On  the  other  hand,  if  writ- 
ing  appeared  within  the  slates  sealed  by  him,  I  desired  the  sum  of 
300  marks  due  to  me  to  be  paid  as  recompense  to  Mr.  Slade.  My 
colleague  accep  ed  this  wager,  and,  being  fond  of  a  good  cigar,  pro¬ 
posed  that  I  should  pay  him  the  appointed  value  of  the  bet  in  the 
shape  of  a  thousand  cigars.  I  requested  my  colleague  to  send  me 
a  slate  well  sealed  to  the  residence  of  Herr  0.  von  Hoffmann,  that 
evening,  when,  with  my  mother,  I  took  supper  in  company  with  my 
friend’s  family  circle  and  Slade.  When  the  slate  in  a  great  sealed 
packet  was  brought  and  delivered  to  me  towards  eight  o’clock, 
just  as  we  were  sitting  at  table,  I  mentioned  half  jestingly  to  Mr. 
Slade  the  object  with  which  it  was  sent,  also  the  bet,  exclusively 
in  his  interest,  with  my  colleague.  A  certain  displeasure  was  at 
once  apparent  in  Slade’s  features,  as  if  I  had  done  something 
repugnant  to  his  feelings,  and  for  which  I  had  not  been  authorized 
by  him.  I  endeavored  to  allay  his  scruples  by  the  remark  that  I 
indeed  had  concluded  the  wager  on  my  own  account,  and  it  rested 
entirely  with  me  or  with  him  to  apply  the  300  marks  when  won  to  a 
benevolent  object.  Slade  replied  he  would  very  willingly  try 
whether  his  spirits  were  ready  to  write  upon  that  slate,  but  he 
refused  beforehand  acceptance  of  any  of  the  money  in  case  of 
success;  he  begged  me,  notwithstanding  my  last  remark,  to  retire 
from  the  wager  into  which  I  had  entered.  I  accordingly  wrote  by 
return  a  few  lines  to  my  colleague  Thiersch,  informing  him  of 
Slade’s  decidedly  expressed  wish,  and  that  under  these  circum¬ 
stances  the  agreement  between  us  had  fallen  through.  I  have  inten¬ 
tionally  communicated  in  some  detail  this  rejection  by  Slade,  a3 
reflecting  a  trait  of  his  character,  in  order,  on  the  one  hand,  to 
show  his  opponents  the  injustice  of  their  allegations  that  he  is  a 


A  WAGER  DISAPPROVED. 


1G1 


fraudulent  conjurer  who  wishes  to  make  “  money  ”  and  “  com¬ 
merce”  ( Geschufte )  of  his  “art;”  on  the  other,  to  enable  my 
readers  to  form  a  judgment,  from  the  contents  of  the  following 
slate-messages,  upon  the  moral  characteristics  of  Slade’s  “four¬ 
dimensional  intelligent  beings.”  The  original  English  text  of  this 
communication,  obtained  upon  a  slate  on  the  Gth  May,  1878,  is 
word  for  word  as  follows :  — 

“Dear  Friends,  —  A  work  is  before  you  of  a  vast  interest  to 
all  humanity,  and  is  the  best  to  follow  the  plans  laid  down  by  us 
in  order  to  develop  the  good  that  is  to  come  out  of  your  investiga¬ 
tion  —  never  make  any  boast,  or  never  put  up  money  on  this  holy 
subject  —  it  is  a  law  not  made  by  men  but  by  God  —  we  will 
bring  you  light  as  fast  as  you  are  able  to  see  —  and  not  be  blinded 
by  its  rays.” 

When,  next  morning,  I  made  my  appearance  again  at  the  resi¬ 
dence  of  my  friend  O.  von  Hoffmann  with  my  sealed  slate,  in 
which  should  be  the  piece  of  paper  written  on  with  pencil,  Slade 
fell  suddenly,  at  breakfast,  into  one  of  his  well-known  trances; 
and  with  closed  eyes  and  altered  tone  of  voice  made  an  address  to 
me  in  English  which,  in  conclusion,  contained  statements  of  what 
we  should  find  (on  opening  the  sealed  double-slate)  written  with 
pencil  on  the  paper  lying  therein.  As  generally  in  such  cases, 
Ilerr  0.  von  Hoffmann  wrote  down,  as  far  as  possible,  the  words 
spoken  by  Slade  during  his  state  of  trance.  They  were  as  fol¬ 
lows: —  * 

“  Persevere  firmly  and  courageously  untroubled  about  thy  oppo¬ 
nents,  whose  daggers  drawn  upon  thee  will  turn  back  upon  them¬ 
selves.  The  scattered  seed  will  find  a  good  soil, —  the  minds  of 
good  men,  although  lower  natures  are  not  able  to  value  it.  In 
what  you  have  witnessed,  others  later  on  will  discover  new  beau¬ 
ties  which  escape  you  at  the  time.  For  science  it  will  be  an  event 
of  unprecedented  significance.  We  rejoice  that  the  atmospheric 

♦  The  original  English  is  not  given,  so  that  the  German  translation  has  to  be 
re-translated  into  English,  not  probably  verbally  identical  with  Slade’s  language. 
— Note  by  Translator . 


IG2 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


conditions  have  been  favorable  to  us,  for  the  conditions  must  be 
present,  and,  in  part,  prepared.  They  cannot  be  explained  any 
more  than  those,  for  example,  which  must  immediately  precede  the 
falling  asleep.  Neither  in  the  one  case  nor  in  the  other  can  they 
be  compelled.  Many  enemies  of  the  movement  will  be  its  friends, 
as  one  of  the  most  important,  Carpenter,  whose  antagonistic  dispo¬ 
sition  has  been  already,  now,  through  thy  labors,  somewhat  shaken, 
and  who  later  will  be  thy  fellow-laborer  in  the  same  field.  As 
regards  the  manifestation  of  yesterday  evening,  you  will  find  upon 
the  paper  sentences  in  three  different  languages;  there  are  some 
faults  in  the  German  and  English.  At  the  lower  end  you  will 
find  circles,  by  which  we  ivill  denote  the  different  dimensions  of 
space.  Tomorrow  morning  0.  von  Hoffmann  shall  again  take  part 
in  the  sitting,  and  tomorrow  evening  something  strange  will  hap¬ 
pen.”  * 

These  words  were  spoken  by  Mr.  Slade,  in  a  trance,  as  remarked 
somewhere  about  ten  o’clock  in  the  morning  of  the  7th  May,  1878, 
quite  unexpectedly  to  us,  during  a  lunch-breakfast,  and  three  hours 
later  I  met  my  colleagues  Wach  and  Herr  0.  von  Hoffmann  at  the 
residence  of  the  Councillor  Thiersch,  in  order  to  open  the  slates 
fastened  with  six  seals,  and  which  had  been  up  to  this  time  continu¬ 
ally  in  my  custody.  When  this  was  done,  we  found  within  the 
piece  of  paper  which  had  been  folded  by  me  the  evening  before,  with 
the  stick  of  graphite,  completely  smooth ,  without  showing  any  other 
foldings  whatever  which  could  denote  a  forcible  insertion  through  a 
narrow  cleft.  This  would  moreover  have  been,  altogether  impossi¬ 
ble  without  injury  to  the  seals,  since  the  extent  of  the  edges  of  the 
frame  left  free  between  my  seals  and  the  strips  of  paper  employed 
for  fastening  by  Professor  Wach — quite  apart  from  their  tight 
adhesion  to  each  other  amounted  at  the  maximum  to  only  80  milli¬ 
metres,  whereas  the  narrowest  side  of  the  folded  sheet  of  letter 
paper  amounted  to  119  millimetres.  The  often-mentioned  two 

*On  the  evening  of  tiie  8th  May  (from  8.20  to  8.35  o’clock)  the  two  endless 
leather  strips  were  knotted  fourfold  under  my  hands,  held  over  them.  See  ante, 
p.  81. 


VERIFICATION. 


103 


brass  spirals  on  the  front  side  of  the  slate  clasped  one  over  the 
other  in  such  a  manner  that  every  possibility  was  excluded  of  shov¬ 
ing  in  a  piece  of  paper  from  this  side.  After  opening  the  slate,  I 
took  from  my  purse  the  two  bits  of  paper  torn  off  on  the  evening 
before  and  satisfied  myself  and  my  friends  of  their  perfect  adapta¬ 
tion  to  the  sheet  of  paper  found.  All  little  irregularities  of  the 
edges  fitted  into  each  other  so  exactly  that  not  the  slightest  doubt 
could  prevail  that  the  torn-off  bits  of  paper  formed  the  completion 
of  the  half  sheet  of  letter  paper. 

I  reproduce  here  the  writing  obtained,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  for 
me  to  read  it. 

Gotten  Vntertreue  geht 
Ueber  alle  Welt  hinaus 
Bete  dass  sie  (?)  kerht 
Ein  in  unser  urmes  Hans. 

Wir  mussen  alle  sterben 
Ob  arm  wir  oder  reieh 
End  warden  einst  erwerben 
Das  sehone  Himmelreich. 

Now,  is  the  \th  dimension  proven  ?  We  are  not  working  with 
the  slate-pencil  or  on  the  slate,  as  our  powers  are  now  in  other 
directions. 

The  strange  writing  is  unknown  to  me.  (Javanese '?) 

Thus  was  fully  established  the  correctness  of  that  which  Slade 
had  said  in  the  state  of  trance  about  the  contents  of  the  writing 
three  hours  before  opening  the  slate.  If  I  had  not  had  the  sealed 
slate  from  the  end  of  the  sitting  continually  in  my  custody,  it 
would  be  possible,  by  disregarding  the  circumstances  described  by 
me  above  with  the  utmost  exactitude,  under  which  the  sheet  of 
paper  disappeared  and  was  written  upon,  just  on  this  account  to 
raise  suspicion  against  Slade,  as  was  in  fact  the  case  with  my  col¬ 
leagues  Thiersch  and  Wach.  Already  the  circumstance  that  the 
writing  was  not,  as  expected,  with  the  slate-pencil  on  the  inside  of 


164  TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 

the  sealed  slate  had  awakened  their  distrust,' and  was  looked  upon 
by  them  as  a  violation  of  the  conditions  prescribed  by  them.  1 
myself,  who  had  personally  witnessed  all  the  above-described  mani¬ 
festations,  and  was  accustomed  to  similar  deviations,  was  exceed¬ 
ingly  pleased  with  the  result  obtained.  It  was  also  in  fact  far 
more  instructive  for  me  than  slate-writing  produced  between  the 
slates  would  have  been.  For  of  the  reality  of  that  fact  I  had 
satisfied  myself*  so  often,  and  under  such  stringent  conditions, 
partly  alone,  partly  with  my  honored  friend  W.  Weber,  that  I  my¬ 
self  could  have  learned  absolutely  nothing  now  thereby.  On  the 
other  hand,  through  the  modification  of  the  experiment,  first,  my 
wish  was  fulfilled  of  getting  writing  with  lead-pencil  upon  paper 
instead  of  on  a  slate ;  secondly,  I  obtained  a  splendid  proof  of  the 
apparent  penetration  of  matter;  thirdly,  an  equally  cogent  proof 
of  clairvoyance,  since  Slade,  to  whom  nothing  of  the  contents  of 
the  sealed  slate  could  be  conveyed  by  his  senses,  was  nevertheless 
able  to  make  a  correct  statement  concerning  them  in  his  state  of 
trance. 

This  admirable  economy  of  instruction,  which  is  evidenced  in 
the  whole  arrangement  and  progress  of  the  phenomena  that  I  was 
so  fortunate  as  to  observe  in  Slade’s  presence,  proves  for  me,  more 
than  all  other  circumstances,  the  high  intelligence  and  friendly 
disposition  of  those  invisible  beings,  under  whose  guidance  these 
experiments  were. 

I  can  here  only  thankfully  express  that  conviction  by  again 
referring  to  the  comparison  already  made  between  these  unexpected 
occurrences  and  the  providential  fatality  observed  in  life.f 


•Compare  the  experiment  in  presence  of  AV.  Weber  (described  ante.  p.  441.  in 
which  a  long  writing  was  obtained  between  two  slates  bound  together  cross¬ 
wise,  not  touched  by  Slade’s  or  our  hands,  these  all  lying  linked  together  on  the 
table. 

i  See  ante,  p.  99.  The  passage  is  repeated  in  the  text  from  a  former  volume. 
'I  he  phrase"  providential  fatality  ”  is  not  the  author’s,  but  appears  to  summarize 
the  view  expressed  in  the  passage  referred  to. — Tit. 


CHAPTER  ELEVENTH. 


WRITING  THROUGH  A  TABLE.— A  TEST  IN  SLATE- WRITING  CONCLUSIVELY 
DISPROVING  SLADE’S  AGENCY. 

The  most  physically  astonishing  thing  in  the  experiments  hith¬ 
erto  related  is,  without  doubt,  the  facility  with  which  material 
bodies  apparently  pass  through  each  other.  Thus,  the  folded  sheet 
of  paper,  without  betraying  the  slightest  traces  of  force  applied,  or 
of  pressure  in  the  transit,  had  apparently  penetrated  through  a 
slate  covered  outside  with  wood  into  the  interior  of  the  double 
slate. 

I  obtained  one  of  the  most  remarkable  confirmations  of  this 
apparent  suspension  of  the  law  of  impenetrability  of  matter  in  a 
sitting  on  the  9th  May,  1878,  from  eleven  to  a  quarter-past  eleven 
•  in  the  morning.  Immediately  after  I  had  sat  down  with  Slade 
at  the  card-table,  I  conversed  with  him  at  first  on  the  power  of  his 
invisible  intelligent  beings,  by  means  of  which  material  bodies 
could  be  apparently  penetrated  with  as  much  facility  as  if  they 
were  permeable.  Slade  shared  my  amazement,  assuring  me  that 
never  until  now  had  such  an  abundance  of  this  sort  of  phenomena 
been  observed  in  his  presence.  Immediately  after  this  remark  he 
took  up  with  his  left  hand  two  slates  of  equal  size  from  among  the 
slates  which  lay  on  the  table  at  his  left,  and  which  had  been 
bought  and  cleaned  by  myself.  He  handed  me  these  two  slates, 
and  desired  me  to  press  the  one  upon  the  upper  surface,  the  other 
against  the  under  surface  of  the  table,  with  my  left  hand,  so  that 
the  thumb  of  my  left  hand  pressed  the  upper,  my  other  four  fin- 

(165) 


ICC  TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 

gers  the  under  slate,  against  the  flat  of  the  table,  as  may  he  seen 
from  the  woodcut,  Plate  VII.  Beneath  the  upper  slate  on  the 
table,  a  splinter  of  slate-pencil  had  first  been  laid,  so  that  it  was 
thus  completely  covered  by  the  upper  slate.  Slade  then  placed 
both  his  hands  on  the  middle  of  the  table,  about  a  foot  from  the 
two  slates,  and  requested  me  to  cover  his  hands  with  my  right 
hand.  Scarcely  was  this  done  when  I  distinctly  heard  writing  on 
one  of  the  slates  which  were  pressed  firmly  by  me  against  the  table. 
After  the  conclusion  of  the  writing  was  signified,  as  usual,  by 
three  ticks  quickly  in  succession,  I  took  the  slates  apart,  and  of 
course  expected  that  the  one  which  had  been  above  the  table  would 
be  that  written  on,  since  on  the  table  still  lay  the  bit  of  pencil  in 
the  same  place  in  which  I  had  laid  it  a  minute  before.  How  great 
was  my  astonishment  to  find  the  under  slate  written  on,  on  the 
side  that  had  been  turned  to  the  table.  Just  as  if  the  bit  of  pen¬ 
cil  had  written  through  the  three-quarter  inch  of  oak  table,  or  as 
if  the  latter  had,  for  the  invisible  writer,  not  been  there  at  all. 
Upon  the  slate  was  the  following  message  in  English :  — 

“We  shall  not  do  much  for  you  this  morning, —  we  wish  to 
replenish  your  strength  for  this  evening;  you  will  require  to  be 
very  passive,  or  we  shall  not  be  able  to  accomplish  our  work. 

“The  table  does  not  hinder  us  the  least, —  we  could  write  in 
this  way  more  often,  but  people  are  not  prepared  for  it.” 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  (6th  May,  1878)  took  place 
the  amazing  transport  of  the  wooden  rings  from  a  sealed  string  of 
catgut  to  the  foot  of  a  wooden  table.* 

In  order  to  meet  the  above  suggestion,  so  repeatedly  raised,  that 
Mr.  Slade  himself  writes  on  slates  by  means  of  a  small  piece  of 
pencil  which  he  has  inserted  between  the  nail  and  the  flesh  of  one 
of  his  fingers,  I  had  purchased  at  the  above-mentioned  writing- 
utensil-warehouse  of  Mylius,  half  a  dozen  slates,  of  such  dimen¬ 
sions  that  such  a  manipulation  was  absolutely  impossible.  I  here 
presuppose  in  my  readers  so  much  understanding  that  they  con- 


*  Ante ,  p.  105. 


Plate  VII. 


t 


AN  EXPERIMENTAL  REFUTATION. 


169 


cede  to  me  that  any  one  who  will  write  on  a  slate  in  the  manner 
indicated,  while  holding  it  at  the  same  time,  must  be  able  to  touch 
with  his  fingers  all  those  parts  of  the  slate  which  are  written  upon. 
Now  the  slates  purchased  by  me  possess  a  length  of  334  millime¬ 
tres,  and  a  breadth  of  105  millimetres,  with  the  manufacture  mark 
A.  W.  Faber,  No.  39.  Grasp  and  hold  such  a  slate  as  one  will, 
even  the  largest  human  hand  with  the  fingers  completely  spread 
out,  cannot  by  a  long  way  reach  all  points  of  the  slate-surface. 
Is  therefore  such  a  slate,  in  the  way  usually  employed  by  Mr. 
Slade,  written  over  upon  its  whole  upper  surface,  so  is  the  above- 
adduced  explanation  physically  impossible,  and  therefore  out  of 
the  question. 

When  I  repaired  with  Slade  to  our  sitting-room  at  the  house  of 
my  friend  0.  von  Hoffmann  at  half-past  eight  on  the  evening  of 
the  7th  of  May,  1878,  I  took  with  me  several  of  such  slates, 
bought  by  myself,  and  first  carefully  cleaned,  and  laid  them  down 
before  me  on  the  card-table,  at  which  we  at  once  took  our  places. 
Scarcely  were  we  seated  when  Slade  fell  into  a  trance,  which  till 
then  had  never  happened  so  immediately  after  our  sitting  down, 
folded  his  hands  and  uttered,  with  altered  voice  and  head  upturned, 
so  fine  a  prayer  that  I  never  shall  forget  the  impression  which  the 
noble  speech  and  the  fervor  with  which  the  prayer  was  spoken 
made  upon  me.  The  impression  was  to  me  so  unexpected,  and  inter¬ 
ested  me,  by  the  aesthetic  in  the  whole  demeanor  of  Slade  with  his 
almost  transfigured  countenance,  so  highly,  that  I  did  not  remember 
to  write  down  the  words.  The  substance  of  the  prayer  was  a  peti¬ 
tion  to  God  further  to  vouchsafe  his  blessing  on  our  experiments, 
and  to  suffer  the  work  undertaken  to  end  happily  for  the  good  of 
mankind.  As  usual  with  Slade,  on  waking  out  of  such  states  of 
trance,  there  was  first  a  rolling  motion  of  the  head,  and  then  he 
awoke  suddenly  with  a  spasm,  which  shook  his  whole  body,  and 
there  was  always,  before  opening  of  the  eyes,  a  peculiar  cracking 
of  the  muscles  of  his  neck  and  jaw.  Of  what  lie  had  spoken  in 
trance,  Mr.  Slade  asserted  that  he  knew  absolutely  nothing.  Those 
who  have  been  witnesses  of  the  experiments  of  the  magnetiser 


170 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


Ilauscn  will  bo  able  most  clearly  to  represent  to  themselves  the 
demeanor  of  awaking  out  of  these  trance-states,  if  they  recall  the 
expression  of  the  “sensitive”  at  the  summons  “Awake!”  of  the 
magnetiser. 

After  Slade  awoke,  his  glance  fell  upon  the  newly-added  oblong 
slates.  His  question,  for  what  purpose  they  were  designed,  I 
answered  evasively.  Hereupon  lie  proposed  to  try  again  whether 
spontaneous  writing  would  be  produced  upon  two  slates  laid  one 
over  the  other,  not  touched  by  either  him  or  me,  as  in  the  experi¬ 
ment  which  had  succeeded  so  splendidly  in  the  presence  of 
William  Weber  and  me  on  the  13th  December,  1877,  when 
between  two  slates  bound  together  crosswise  with  strong  pack¬ 
thread,  and  which  lay  quietly  on  the  card-table,  neither  Slade  nor 
we  touching  it,  a  writing  was  suddenly  produced,  perceptible  to  us 
all.* 

Slade  now  desired  me  to  take  two  of  the  new  slates,  to  lay  a 
splinter  of  slate-pencil  between  them,  and  then  to  seal  these  two 
slates  firmly  together.  I  did  this,  after  having  again  satisfied 
myself  that  the  slates  were  perfectly  clean.  The  sealing  was  in 
four  places  on  the  long  sides,  and  now  I  laid  these  slates,  with  the 
bit  of  pencil  between  them,  on  the  corner  of  the  card-table  most 
remote  from  our  hands.  The  latter  we  joined  over  one  another  on 
the  table,  so  that  Slade’s  hands  were  covered  by  mine,  and  were 
thus  prevented  from  moving.  Scarcely  had  this  happened  when 
the  untouched  slates  were  raised  many  times  upon  one  of  the 
edges,  which  was  clearly  perceived  by  us  both  by  the  bright  light 
diffused  by  a  candle  standing  on  the  middle  of  the  card-table. 
Then  the  two  slates  laid  themselves  down  again  on  the  card-table 
in  a  somewhat  altered  position,  and  now  writing  between  the 
slates  began  to  be  immediately  audible,  as  if  with  a  slate-pencil 
guided  by  a  firm  hand.  After  the  well-known  three  ticks  had 
announced  the  conclusion  of  the  writing,  we  sundered  our  hands, 
which  up  to  this  time  had  been  continually  and  firmly  joined, 


*  Ante,  p.  CO. 


Plate  VIII, 


LONG  MESSAGE  ON  A  NEW  SLATE. 


175 


closed  the  sitting,  and  betook  ourselves  with  the  double-slate,  which 
I  had  immediately  seized,  to  the  next  room,  where  Herr  von  Hoff¬ 
mann  and  his  wife  awaited  us.  In  presence  of  these  persons  the 
slate  shortly  before  scaled  by  me  was  opened.  Both  sides  were 
completely  written  over  with  English.  (Plate  VIII.  represents  a 
photographic  reproduction  of  the  two  slates  in  reduced  scale.  By 
clapping  together  the  slates,  the  two  inscribed  sides,  lying  one 
over  the  other,  show  the  position  in  which  these  surfaces  wore  in 
fact  written  over.)  Here  follows  the  English  original. 

“This  is  a  truth  —  not  for  select— but  for  all  mankind  —  with¬ 
out  respect  of  rank  or  race — -no  matter  how  one  may  be  insulted 
or  persecuted  by  his  investigation  —  it  will  not  take  from  them  the 
truth,  no  more  than  a  blind  man’s  words;  by  saying  there  is  no 
sunshine,  it  does  not  prevent  the  sun  from  shining  or  bring  dark- 
ness  at  noonday;  the  blind  man  can  say  there  is  no  sunshine,  for 
he  cannot  see  the  light  of  the  sun.  The  man,  that  says  this  is  not 
true,  lie  says  so  because  he  has  not  had  proof  of  its  being  true; 
people  that  cannot  see,  do  not  chide  them,  but  help  them  by  show¬ 
ing  them  the  way  to  this  divine  truth;  we  are  not  able  to  say  more 
now  as  our  space  is  now  full ;  go  on  in  your  investigation,  and  you 
will  receive  your  reward.” 


CHAPTER  TWELFTH. 

A  “FAULT”  IN  THE  CABLE. —  A  JET  OF  WATER. —  SMOKE. —  “FIRE  EVERY¬ 
WHERE.”— ABNORMAL  SHADOWS.— EXPLANATION  UPON  THE  HYPOTHESIS  OF 
THE  FOURTH  DIMENSION. —  A  SEANCE  IN  DIM  LIGHT. —  MOVEMENT  OF  OBJECTS. 
—  A  LUMINOUS  BODY. 

I  pass  now  to  the  account  of  further  facts  observed  by  me, 
which  prove  the  intimate  connection  of  another  material  world  with 
our  own,  and  may  be  considered  iu  general  as  a  confirmation  of 
the  numerous  observations  of  Mr.  Crookes  and  other  physicists. 
Generally,  hitherto,  my  accounts  have  had  reference  to  the  sud¬ 
den  disappearance  and  return  of  solid  bodies;  the  following  facts 
will  show  the  advent  ( Eintritt )  of  bodies  in  the  fluid  and  gaseous 
condition  without  our  being  able,  from  the  standpoint  of  our  ordi¬ 
nary  and  limited  conception  of  space,  to  give  an  answer  to  the 
question  “whence?” 

On  the  7th  May,  1878,  at  fifteen  minutes  past  eleven  in  the 
morning,  I  had  taken  my  place  with  Slade  at  our  card-table.  In 
order  that  we  might  first  learn  something  of  what  we  were  to 
expect,  I  took  one  of  the  slates  kept  in  readiness,  cleaned  it,  laid 
a  small  bit  of  slate-pencil  upon  it,  and  handed  it  to  Slade  to  hold, 
as  usual,  half  under  the  edge  of  the  table,  that  it  might  be  written 
on  by  his  invisible  beings.  Slade  proposed,  as  a  variety  in  this 
proceeding,  the  following  modification.  He  desired  me  to  press  the 
slate  from  below  against  the  table  with  my  left  hand,  as  is  shown 
in  the  above  wood-cut,*  while  he  grasped  the  slate  at  the  other 
comer  with  his  right  hand,  and  pressed  it  in  the  same  manner 


*Ante,  p.  1GT. 


(l76) 


(Copied  from  a  Photograph .) 


AN  IMPORTANT  FACT. 


177 


against  the  table.  His  left  hand  Slade  laid  extended  on  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  the  table,  and  I  covered  it  with  my  right  hand.  Scarcely 
was  this  done  when  writing  began  on  the  slate;  this  gave  the 
opportunity  of  confirming  a  phenomenon  observed  also  at  other 
times  by  myself,  and  frequently  by  others,  that  the  distinctly  audi¬ 
ble  sound  of  writing  immediately  ceased  as  soon  as  by  raising  my 
right  hand  I  removed  it  somewhat  from  Slade’s  left.  As  soon  as 
the  connection  was  re-established,  the  writing  immediately  recom¬ 
menced.*  Three  ticks  on  the  surface  of  the  slate  having  declared 
the  writing  ended,  the  following  was  found  on  the  slate  on  its 
upper  surface,  whicli  had  been  pressed  against  the  table  :  — 

“  Tomorrow  morning  wc  would  be  pleased  to  have  Baron  II. 
sit  with  you — and  shall  begin  a  new  power,  and  give  you  more 
proof  of  what  can  be  done;  please  ask  us  no  question,  or  make 
any  more  requests;  we  will  do  all  in  our  power  for  you  —  we  wish 
to  say  more  tomorrow  morning  by  controlling  the  medium.” 

Slade  and  I  then  rose  to  look  in  a  closet  near  for  a  somewhat 
larger  piece  of  slate-pencil,  but  before  this  could  be  done,  almost 
in  the  moment  when  we  rose,  we  were  sprinkled  from  above  by  a 
sort  of  drizzle.  We  were  wet  on  the  head,  clothes  and  hands,  and 
the  traces  of  this  shower  —  of  perhaps  one-fourth  of  a  second  dura¬ 
tion  —  were  afterwards  clearly  perceptible  on  the  floor  of  the 
room. 

Remains  of  the  liquid  being  especially  on  the  upper  side  of  my 
right  hand,  I  touched  it  with  the  tip  of  my  tougue ;  so  far  as  taste 
could  inform,  the  moisture  was  pure  water.  I  should  mention 
here,  that  in  the  room  in  which  we  were  there  was  no  vessel  with 
water,  although  there  was  in  that  immediately  adjoining.  After 
the  above-related  facts  concerning  the  transport  of  solid  bodies 
from  three-dimensionally  enclosed  spaces,  such  a  conveyance  of 
water  from  one  room  to  another  would  appear  to  be  a  phenome¬ 
non  of  the  same  kind. 

*The  translator  observed  this  on  several  occasions  when  sitting  with  Slade  in 
London,  in  1870.  The  same  fact  is  also  recorded  by  the  lato  Mr.  Serjeant  Cox  in 
the  “  Spiritualist August,  1870. —  Tit. 


ITS 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


Surprised  at  this  unexpected  phenomenon,  and  yet  busied  in 
drying  our  clothes,  we  took  our  places  again  at  the  table,  and  were 
about  to  join  hands,  when  suddenly  the  same  thing  was  repeated 
almost  more  strongly.  This  time  the  ceiling  and  walls  of  the  room 
were  also  moistened,  and  there  seemed,  judging  from  the  direction 
and  form  of  the  traces  of  water,  to  have  proceeded  several  differ¬ 
ent.  jets  of  water  at  the  same  time  from  a  point  in  the  middle  of 
the  room,  perhaps  four  feet  high  above  our  heads;  as  if  a  jet  of 
water  were  to  be  discharged  perpendicularly  upon  a  plane,  where 
it  would  then  spread  itself  out  radially  in  all  directions  in  this  two- 
dimensional  region  of  space,  from  the  point  at  which  it  reached  the 
ground.  If  one  applies  this  analogy  to  a  jet  of  water  discharged 
from  the  fourth  dimension  into  the  three-dimensional  region  of 
space,  the  water  would  then  appear  at  a  particular  spot  of  this 
space,  and  under  suitable  conditions  must  extend  itself  thence 
radially  to  all  three  dimensions. 

I  may  further  remark  that  I  met  with  the  same  phenomenon  in 
just  as  unexpected  a  manner  at  a  sitting  with  Slade  at  which 
Herr  Gillis  of  St.  Petersburg  was  present.*  Since  that  sitting 
took  place  in  the  sitting-room  of  the  restaurant-keeper  of  the  Thu- 
ringian  railway  station,  which  Slade  had  set  foot  in  shortly  before 
for  the  first  time,  the  possibility  of  a  conjuring  apparatus  is 
excluded;  and,  independently  of  this,  the  same  phenomenon  in  the 
presence  of  Slade  has  since  been  confirmed  by  numerous  other 
observers. 

On  the  next  morning  (8th  May,  1878,  eleven  o’clock)  Herr  0. 
von  Hoffmann  took  part  in  the  sitting;  he  sat  at  my  right,  Slade 
in  his  usual  place  at  my  left.  After  some  short  writings  on  the 
slate  had  been  obtained  in  the  usual  manner,  and  Slade  had  joined 
his  hands  with  ours  again  on  the  middle  of  the  table,  there  rose 
suddenly,  in  three  different  places  above  the  edge  of  the  table 
from  beneath,  a  smoke  which,  judging  from  the  smell,  contained 
some  acid  of  Sulphur  and  saltpetre.  We  immediately  looked  under 


•Referred  to,  but  not  described,  in  un  earlier  part  of  the  volume.—  Tit. 


“FIRE  EVERYWHERE.”  179 

tbe  table,  but  saw  nothing  further  than  the  still  present  remains  of 
this  smoke,  as  after  the  lighting  of  a  lucifer  match.  Scarcely  had 
we  again  joined  our  hands,  to  await  the  further  development  of 
the  phenomena,  when  the  same  thing  was  repeated  yet  more 
strongly. 

Almost  at  the  same  time  Slade  proposed  to  me  to  place  a  can¬ 
dle  under  the  table,  to  see  if  the  invisible,  beings  were  able  to 
light  it.  Thereupon  Herr  von  Hoffmann  took  two  candlesticks, 
provided  with  new  unused  candles,  from  his  writing-table,  and 
placed  them  both  on  the  floor  under  the  table,*  at  which  we  imme¬ 
diately  resumed  our  seats,  and  joined  our  hands  in  the  manner 
already  'mentioned.  After  we  had  waited  for  some  minutes, 
smoke  rose  up  again  from  under  the  table,  almost  from  all  sides ; 
and  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  candlesticks  with  the  candle  burn¬ 
ing  hovered  up  above  the  edge  of  the  table  opposite  to  me ;  after 
a  few  seconds  it  sunk  down  again;  and  when  we  locked  under  the 
table  one  of  the  candles  was  lighted,  and  under  the  middle  of  the 
table.  To  refute  the  suggestion  of  a  transient  hallucination  or 
“unconscious  cerebration,”  a  half  sheet  of  writing  paper  was  taken, 
held  close  over  the  burning  candle,  and  in  this  way  a  hole  was 
burned  through  the  paper.  I  then  took  a  stick  of  sealing-wax, 
held  it  in  the  same  light,  and  let  a  part  of  the  melted  wax  drop  on 
the  paper,  and  then  impressed  the  seal  with  my  signet.  The  half 
sheet  of  paper  with  the  seal  under  the  in-burnt  hole  is  still  safe  in 
my  possession.  After  our  agreeable  astonishment  at  this  unexpect¬ 
edly  successful  experiment  had  somewhat  subsided,  we  sat  again 
at  the  card-table,  and  placed  the  burning  light  in  the  middle  of  it. 
Scarcely  had  this  been  done  when  Slade  fell  into  a  trance,  and 
with  closed  eyes  uttered  an  address,  of  which  Herr  von  Hoffmann 
took  down  the  following  words,  while  Slade  was  slowly  speaking 
them :  — 

“All  seems  strange  that  is  not  understood;  fire  is  everywhere. 
Think  of  the  Hint  from  which  you  draw  it;  it  is  in  all  the  ele- 


*  Not  under  the  middle  of  the  table,  but  under  the  edge  at  his  right,  the  place 
furthest  removed  from  Slade’s  feet. 


ISO 


TRANSCENDENTAL  TIIVSICS. 


meats  around  you.  Let  this  light  be  a  beacon  light  in  the  path  of 
investigation,  let  it  be  symbolical  of  the  light  that  must  break 
through  the  darkness  of  the  world.  The  light  of  the  brain  will 
light  thy  pathway!  This  evening  we  will  enter  into  a  new  phase ; 
tomorrow  morning  we  will  replenish  the  forces,  and  in  the  even¬ 
ing  show  you  another  phase,  if  the  atmosphere  be  favorable.” 

In  fact,  our  invisible  friends  kept  their  promise  of  the  morning 
in  a  manner  astonishing  to  us  all. 

We  were  sitting  at  half-past  seven  in  the  evening  at  the  tea- 
table  in  the  dining-room.  On  the  table  burned  a  large  lamp; 
Slade  sat  opposite  me,  his  back  turned  to  the  window,  the  cur¬ 
tains  of  which  were  let  down.  At  my  left,  on  one  side  of  the 
table,  sat  Frau  von  Hoffmann ;  opposite  to  her,  on  the  other  side 
of  the  large  tea-table,  Herr  von  Hoffmann ;  I  myself  had  my  back 
turned  to  the  great  folding-doors,  provided  with  a  brown  curtain, 
by  which  one  entered  the  room  from  the  corridor.  Since  in  gen¬ 
eral  we  had  never  observed  remarkable  manifestations  with  Slade 
during  meals, —  I  leave  quite  out  of  sight  particular  risings  of  the 
table  and  movement  of  detached  chairs, —  we  naturally  were  not 
expecting  anything  surprising  on  this  evening.  Suddenly,  how¬ 
ever,  Frau  von  Hoffmann  cried  out,  and  said  that  she  saw  on  the 
wall  and  on  the  door  to  which  my  back  was  turned  the  reflection 
of  a  bright  light  which  appeared  to  issue  from  a  place  under  the 
table  at  which  we  sat.  Slade,  who  front  his  place  was  facing  the 
side  of  the  room  referred  to,  confirmed  this  assertion.  We  looked 
first  under  the  table,  examined  everything  narrowly,  but  found 
nothing  which  could  explain  the  origin  of  such  a  light.  In  the 
expectation  that  this  phenomenon  would  be  repeated,  we  fre¬ 
quently  looked  at  the  side  in  question,  and  for  easier  observation 
I  had  placed  my  chair  somewhat  obliquely.  Suddenly  this  phe¬ 
nomenon  occurred  again,  and  then,  immediately  afterwards,  again. 
The  color  of  the  light  was  bluish-white,  as  if  proceeding  from  a 
suddenly-kindled  electrical  light,  and,  what  was  for  me  the  most 
remarkable,  the  shadows  of  the  feet  of  the  table  were  sharply  pro¬ 
jected,  nevertheless,  so  far  as  I  could  ascertain  in  the  short  time, 


SIIADO  W-C  ASTING. 


181 


perceptibly  of  the  same  size  as  the  objects  casting  the  shadows. 
Although  I  might  consider  this  phenomenon,  owing  to  the  want  of 
sufficient  test-conditions  (  Controle) ,  as  a  not  scientifically  estab¬ 
lished  fact,  raised  above  all  doubt,  yet  I  hold  it,  nevertheless,  for 
my  scientific  duty  to  make  mention  of  it,  in  order  that  other 
observers  may  be  attentive  to  its  extraordinary  importance. 

If,  for  instance,  the  origin  of  this  ray  was  a  luminous  point  in 
the  space  beneath  the  table,  the  shadows  of  the  feet  of  the  table 
must,  according  to  the  laws  of  shadow-casting,  have  been  consid¬ 
erably  larger  on  the  wall  than  the  feet  themselves,  as  anyone  can 
easily  prove  by  placing  a  lighted  candle  under  a  table  having  sev¬ 
eral  feet.  The  size  and  form  of  the  shadow-projection  of  an  object 
approximates,  as  one  knows,  more  to  the  size  of  the  shadow-cast¬ 
ing  object  the  further  the  source  of  light  is  removed  from  the  lat¬ 
ter,  or,  in  other  words,  the  nearer  the  rays  are  to  the  parallel.  The 
sharpness  in  the  outline  of  the  shadow  affords,  moreover,  an  infer¬ 
ence  as  to  the  apparent  size  of  the  light-source ;  if,  for  example, 
the  apparent  diameter  of  the  sun’s  disc  were  twenty  times  greater 
than  is  in  fact  the  case,  the  shadows  cast  by  opaque  bodies  in  sun¬ 
light  would  be  effaced  at  the  edges  to  a  far  greater  extent  than 
actually  happens.  Apart  from  the  phenomena  of  refraction,  a 
body  would  cast  an  absolutely  sharp  shadow  of  absolutely  similar 
size  with  the  shadow-casting  object  if  the  rays  proceeded  from  an 
infinitely  remote  point.  Since,  now,  in  the  above-mentioned  case, 
surprisingly  sharp  shadows  of  the  feet  of  the  table  of  perceptibly 
similar  size  to  the  feet  themselves  were  observed,  it  follows  from 
this  that  the  rays  which  produced  that  projection  of  shadow,  must 
have  issued  from  a  light  source,  first,  possessing  a  very  small 
apparent  size,  and,  secondly,  being  at  a  great  distance.  No  place 
underneath  the  table  could  have  satisfied  the  second  condition,  and 
since  the  remaining  space  of  the  room  was  observed,  and  even  the 
distance  of  the  nearest  wall  at  Slade’s  back,  would  not  have  suf¬ 
ficed  to  comply  with  the  above  condition,  the  said  phenomenon 
would  thus  point  to  another  place  as  the  point  of  issue,  which  can¬ 
not  lie  at  all  in  our  three-dimensional  space.  This  contradiction  is 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


182 


solved  as  soon  as  one  presupposes  the  reality  of  a  four-dimensional 
region  of  space,  and  admits  that  it  is  possible  for  those  invisible 
intelligent  beings,  who  have  showed  us  so  much  of  their  powers, 
also  to  divert  rays  of  light,  which  are  diffused  in  the  direction  of 
the  fourth  dimension,  so  that  they  fall  in  our  three-dimensional 
region  of  space.  We  are,  indeed,  likewise  able,  by  reflection  and 
refraction  of  light,  to  divert  rays  in  such  a  manner  as  to  transfer 
their  point  of  issue  to  another  than  the  true  place.  Upon  this 
diversion  of  rays  of  light  depends  most  of  the  physical-optical  illu¬ 
sions.  Since  similar  phenomena  of  lights  are  very  frequently 
observed  at  spiritualistic  sittings,  and  among  others  Mr.  Crookes 
has  also  given  detailed  testimony  to  them,*  I  may  be  permitted  to 
call  the  attention  of  other  observers  to  the  circumstance  mentioned. 
For  approximate  determination  of  the  point  of  divergence  of  the 


"“Notes  of  an  Inquiry  into  the  Phenomena  called  Spiritual ,”  by  William 
Crookes,  F.R.S.,  London,  1874.  Mr.  Crookes  enumerates  and  describes  thirteen 
classes  of  phenomena  observed  and  verified  by  himself  in  his  own  house,  and 
with  only  private  friends  present, besides  the  medium.  Of  class  viii.,  “Luminous 
Appearances,”  ho  says  :  “These,  being  rather  faint,  generally  require  the  room 
to  be  darkened.  I  need  scarcely  remind  my  readers  again  that,  under  these  cir¬ 
cumstances,  l  have  taken  proper  precautions  to  avoid  being  imposed  upon  by 
phosphorized  oil,  or  other  means.  Moreover,  many  of  these  lights  are  such  as  I 
have  tried  to  imitate  artificially,  but  cannot. 

“Under  the  strictest  test  conditions,  I  have  seen  a  solid  self-luminous  body, 
the  size  and  nearly  the  shape  of  a  turkey’s  egg,  float  noiselessly  about  the  room, 
atone  time  higher  than  anyone  present  could  reach  standing  on  tiptoe,  and  then 
gently  descend  to  the  floor.  It  was  visible  for  more  than  ten  minutes,  and  before 
it  faded  away  it  struck  the  table  three  times  with  a  sound  like  that  of  a  hard, 
solid  body.  During  this  time  the  medium  was  lying  back,  apparently  insensible, 
in  an  easy  chair. 

“  l  have  seen  luminous  points  of  light  darting  about,  and  settling  on  the  heads 
of  different  persons  ;  1  have  had  questions  answered  by  the  flashing  of  a  bright 
light  a  desired  number  of  times  in  front  of  my  face.  I  have  seen  sparks  of  light 
rising  from  the  table  to  the  ceiling,  and  again  falling  upon  the  table,  striking  it 
with  an  audible  sound.  I  have  had  an  alphabetic  communication  given  by 
luminous  flashes  occurring  before  me  in  the  air  whilst  my  hand  was  mov  ng 
about  amongst  them.  I  have  seen  a  luminous  cloud  floating  upwards  to  a  picture. 
Under  the  strictest  test  conditions,  I  have  more  than  once  had  a  solid,  self-lumin¬ 
ous,  crystalline  body  placed  in  my  hand  by  a  hand  which  did  not  belong  to  any 
person  in  the  room.  In  the.  liijht  1  have  seen  a  luminous  cloud  hover  over  a  helio¬ 
trope  on  a  side  table,  break  a  sprig  off,  and  carry  the  sprig  to  a  lady  ;  and  on  some 
occasions  I  have  seen  a  similar  luminous  cloud  visibly  condense  to  the  form  of  a 
hand  and  carry  small  objects  about.” 


l.TCIIT  Fl'.OM  THE  FOURTH  DIMENSION.  1  S3 

rays  of  such  luminous  phenomena*  the  following  proceeding  may 
he  recommended  as  the  simplest.  Phenomena  of  light  arc  observed 
by  aid  of  an  opera-glass,  by  the  adjustment  of  which  the  object 
may  be  removed  as  far  as  possible.  Objects  at  so  short  a  distance 
as  those  in  the  room  require,  to  appear  in  sharp  outline,  a  special 
adjustment  of  the  glass,  and  this  adjustment  —  the  determinate  dis¬ 
tance  of  the  eye-piece  from  the  objective  —  enables  us,  according 
to  simple  optical  laws,  to  determine  the  distance  of  the  object,  that 
is,  of  those  luminous  points,  from  which  the  rays  extend  themselves 
in  space.  If,  now,  it  should  really  appear,  with  respect  to  these 
spiritualistic  luminous  phenomena,  that  the  distance  of  the  point  of 
divergence  of  the  rays  does  not  agree  with  the  distance  of  the 
luminous  object,  the  difference  of  these  two  distances  would  deter¬ 
mine  the  length  of  a  tract  ( Strecke )  falling  in  the  fourth  dimen¬ 
sion,  and  hereby  would  be  made  the  first  step  towards  quantitative 
determinations  in  the  four-dimensional  field  of  space.  Such  an 
observation  would,  in  the  history  of  transcendental  physics,  be 
comparable  to  the  first  determination  of  parallaxes  in  the  history 
of  astronomy,  whereby  we  obtained  the  first  approximate  concep¬ 
tion  of  the  distance  of  our  moon,  the  nearest  to  us  of  the  heavenly 
bodies. 

I  may  mention  that  the  above-described  luminous  phenomena 
were  repeated  on  two  other  evenings  (9th  May  and  19th  May) 
under  similar  circumstances,  and  in  presence  of  others  who  were 
sitting  at  tea  at  the  same  table.  On  these  evenings,  however,  for 
the  sake  of  a  better  control  over  Slade,  and  for  more  convenient 
observation  of  the  shadow-projection  on  the  opposite  side,  I  had 
taken  my  place  close  beside  Slade,  so  that  he  sat  at  m3'  left.  The 
only  difference  of  the  phenomenon  from  that  observed  on  the  first 
evening  consisted  in  the  color  of  the  light  being  yellowish-red 
instead  of  bluish-white.  It  will  therefore  be  useful  in  future  at 
similar  sittings  to  have  with  one  a  pocket  spectroscope,  to  examine 
the  nature  of  the  light,  as  opportunity  offers. 

Finally,  I  mention  here  a  sitting  with  Slade  which  took  place  at 
five  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  15th  December,  1 S77,  in  the 


184 


TUANSCENDKNTAt  PHYSICS. 


usual  sitting-room  of  the  house  of  my  friend  0.  von  Hoffmann, 
whose  wife  was  present.  It  was  tho  only  one  in  which  the  room 
was  partially  darkened,  to  try  whether  in  Slade’s  presence,  as  in 
that  of  the  young  lady  of  fifteen  (Miss  Cook),  a  human  form,  or 
at  least  a  “phantom  form,”  as  Mr.  Crookes  described  it  in  his 
book,  under  the  heading  “  Phantom  Forms  and  Faces,”  would  bo 
evolved.  In  order  to  improvise  a  cabinet,  a  string  was  drawn 
obliquely  across  the  part  of  the  room  opposite  my  usual  place,  at 
about  two  metres  *  above  the  floor,  and  of  a  breadth  corresponding 
to  that  of  the  edge  of  the  table,  a  dark  green  curtain  being  fixed  to 
it.  Slade  sat  at  his  usual  place,  at  his  right  Frau  von  Hoffmann, 
I  next,  and  Herr  von  Hoffmann  at  my  right.  We  had  already 
laid  our  hands,  linked  together,  on  the  table,  when  I  remarked  it 
was  a  pity  we  had  forgotten  to  place  a  small  hand-bell  on  the 
table.  At  the  same  moment  it  began  ringing  in  the  corner  of  the 
room  at  my  right  front,  at  least  two  metres  from  the  middle  of  the 
table ;  and  the  room  being  faintly  illuminated  by  gaslight  from  the 
street,  we  saw  a  small  hand-bell  slowly  hover  down  from  the  stand 
on  which  it  stood,  lay  itself  down  on  the  carpet  of  the  floor,  and 
move  itself  forward  by  jerks,  till  it  got  under  our  table.  Here 
immediately  it  began  ringing  in  the  most  lively  manner,  and  while 
we  kept  our  hands  joined  together  as  above  described  on  the  table, 
a  hand  suddenly  appeared  through  an  opening  in  the  middle  of 
the  curtain  with  the  bell,  which  it  placed  on  the  middle  of  the 
table  in  front  of  us.  I  hereupon  expressed  the  wish  to  be  allowed 
to  hold  that  hand  once  firmly  in  my  own.  I  had  scarcely  said  this, 
when  the  hand  appeared  again  out  of  the  opening,  and  now,  while 
with  the  palm  of  my  left  hand  I  covered  and  held  fast  both  Slade’s 
hands,  with  my  right  I  seized  the  hand  protruded  from  the  open¬ 
ing,  and  thus  shook  hands  with  a  friend  from  the  other  world.  It 
had  quite  a  living  warmth,  and  returned  my  pressure  heartily. 
After  letting  go  the  hand,  I  reached  it  a  slate,  and  challenged  it 
to  a  small  proof  of  strength;  I  would  pull  to  one  side,  and  it 


•About  G  1-2  feet. — Ta, 


A  LUMINOUS  FORM. 


185 


should  pull  to  the  other,  and  we  would  see  which  of  us  kept  the 
slate.  This  was  done,  and  in  the  frequent  give-and-take,  I  had 
quite  the  feeling  of  an  clastic  tug,  as  though  a  man  had  hold  of 
the  slate  at  the  other  side.  By  a  strong  wrench  I  got  possession 
of  it.  I  again  remark  that  during  all  these  proceedings  Mr.  Slade 
sat  quietly  before  us,  both  his  hands  being  covered  and  detained 
by  my  left  hand,  and  by  the  hands  of  the  two  others. 

I  may  here  point  out  that  such  a  pull  on  one  side  by  a  human 
hand  or  other  solid  body,  as  a  slate,  would  be  a  violation  of  the 
principle  of  the  equality  of  action  and  reaction  if  no  material 
object  undergoing  the  equal,  but  resisted,  pull  were  to  be  found  in 
three-dimensional  space.  But  no  such  object  being  to  be  found  in 
the  space  ordinarily  perceivable  by  us  (in  unserem  gewohnlichen 
Auschauungsraum) ,  it  must  occupy  a  position  in  absolute  space, 
falling  in  the  next  higher  region  of  space.  Only  in  this  manner 
can  the  apparent  contradiction,  here  introduced,  of  a  fundamental 
law  of  the  interaction  of  bodies,  be  satisfactorily  solved  for  our 
understanding. 

While  I  was  still  busied  with  the  above  observations  and  experi¬ 
ments,  there  suddenly  emerged  from  above  the  upper  border  of  the 
curtain,  a  half  circular  mass  gleaming  in  phosphorescent  light,  of 
the  size  of  a  human  head.  It  moved  slowly  to  and  fro  at  the 
same  height  from  one  side  of  the  curtain  to  the  other  frequently ; 
and  gave  us  all  the  impression  of  appertaining  to  a  luminous  form 
close  behind  the  curtain.  Approaching  that  side  of  the  curtain  at 
which  Slade  sat,  this  luminous  form  became  visible  in  its  whole 
extent.  Slade  drew  back,  evidently  alarmed,  whereat  we  laughed, 
and  the  form  immediately  hovered  back  behind  the  curtain,  and 
with  the  same  speed  moved  to  the  other  side,  here  also  emerging 
up  to  the  middle.  We  could ^not  distinguish  features  or  limbs.  In 
brightness  and  color  the  phosphorescent  light  resembled  that 
observed  in  the  so-called  “after  shining”  Geissler’s  tubes:.  1 
much  regretted  that  I  had  not  at  hand  my  pocket  spectroscope,  in 
order  more  closely  to  examine  the  nature  of  the  emitted  light. 


CHAPTER  THIRTEENTH. 

PHENOMENA  DESCRIBED  BY  OTHERS. 

The  foregoing  comprises  in  essentials  all  the  phenomena  which 
I  have  myself  observed  in  Slade’s  presence  during  a  series  of  more 
than  thirty  sittings  and  other  meetings.  The  precautionary  meas¬ 
ures  which  I  had  taken  on  these  occasions  were  such  that,  for  my 
understanding,  every  possibility  of  deception  or  subjective  illusion 
was  excluded.  I  do  not,  however,  assert  that  these  measures  will 
be  regarded  as  sufficient  by  the  understanding  of  other  men.  I 
am  therefore  quite  ready  and  willing  to  receive  instruction  and 
enlightenment  as  to  better  precautions  than  those  adopted  by  me, 
provided  that  my  advisers  have  given  other  proofs  of  intellectual 
competence  superior  to  my  own,  to  induce  me  to  defer  to  them  and 
to  recognize  them  as  judges  of  facts  of  observation  which  they 
have  not  seen  but  have  learned  for  the  first  time  from  my  descrip¬ 
tion. 

Before  Mr.  Slade  left  Germany,  he  visited  Annathal  in  Bohe¬ 
mia,  by  special  invitation  from  Herr  J.  E.  Schmid,  the  owner  of 
a  factory  there.  In  the  family  of  this  gentleman  he  found  the 
most  friendly  reception,  and  remained  a  week.  Herr  Schmid  has 
already  published  a  short  account  in  a  letter  to  Psyschische  Stu- 
dien  (July,  1878).  For  the  following  detailed  description  I  am 
indebted  to  Herr  Heinrich  Gossmann,  Herr  Schmid’s  bookkeeper, 
who  witnessed  all  the  phenomena  during  Slade’s  residence  with 
Herr  Schmid,  and  gave  me  a  verbal  account  of  them  when  on  a 
visit  to  Lcipsic.  In  accordance  with  my  request,  and  by  permis- 

(186) 


VARIOUS  PHENOMENA. 


187 


sion  of  Herr  Schmid,  he  afterwards  furnished  me  the  following 
written  account.* 

“Mr.  Slade  arrived  here  on  the  14th  May,  last  year  (1878), 
hut  was  too  tired  by  his  journey  to  give  us  a  sitting  on  that  day. 
Notwithstanding  which,  to  the  surprise  of  us  all,  on  his  entering 
the  room,  we  heard  thundering  blows  on  the  sofa,  for  which  Mr. 
Slade  could  certainly  have  made  no  preparations,  as  he  had  never 
been  in  the  room  before.  To  the  question  whether  this  was  a  mani¬ 
festation,  Mr.  Slade  replied  in  the  affirmative,  remarking  that  the 
spirits  could  uot  wait  till  the  next  day  to  announce  themselves,  and 
that  he  had  often  found  this  to  be  the  case  where  harmony  pre¬ 
vailed.  We  took  our  seats  at  the  table,  without  intending  a  regu¬ 
lar  sitting,  and  had  scarcely  done  so  when  all  at  once  a  seat  at 
some  distance,  near  the  piano,  put  itself  in  motion,  and  came  up  to 
the  table  of  its  own  accord.  Continually,  as  our  astonishment 
increased,  we  did  not  neglect  to  watch  Mr.  Slade  closely  and  atten¬ 
tively.  I  was  sitting  next  him,  and  after  some  time  was  swiftly 
and  unexpectedly  swung  round  in  a  half  circle,  with  the  chair  on 
which  I  sat,  so  that  I  nearly  fell  off  it.  Others  at  the  table  were 
now  touched,  sometimes  softly,  sometimes  powerfully,  and  to  me 
this  happened  often.  .  .  . 

“  One  manifestation  now  followed  another,  chairs  moved  up  to 
the  table,  touches  on  our  knees  were  constantly  felt,  a  knife  and 
fork  were  put  across  each  other  on  a  cloth  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
table,  as  if  they  were  cutting  meat,  then  from  another  side  of  the 
table  a  fork  flew  off  on  to  the  floor  in  a  slight  curve. 

“  On  the  next  and  two  following  days  seances  were  held  in 
another  room  at  a  table  appropriated  to  them.  Many  persons, 
skeptics  and  the  like,  to  whom  spiritualism  was  as  yet  unknown, 
took  part  in  them.  A  chain  was  formed,  and  we  gave  Mr.  Slade 
a  slate  which  he  had  never  had  in  his  hands  before.  He  laid  on  it 
a  small  bit  of  pencil,  and  asked  the  spirit  of  his  deceased  wife  to 
tell  them,  by  direct  writing,  if  it  was  possible  for  any  of  the  departed 


•The  introductory  and  concluding  parts  of  this  letter  are  here  omitted,  as  not 
material.— Tb.  > 


188 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


relatives  of  the  family  to  communicate  in  the  same  way,  to  which  an 
affirmative  answer  was  returned.  Mr.  Slade  now  put  the  pencil  on 
the  table,  showed  us  that  the  slate  was  quite  clean  and  without  writ¬ 
ing,  and  then  laid  it  on  the  table  over  the  pencil.  Writing  under 
the  slate  was  at  once  heard;  we  could  distinctly  follow  the  scrib¬ 
bling  and  taking  off  of  the  pencil.  This  sitting,  as  all  the  rest,  was 
in  bright  daylight ;  the  slate  lay  there  free,  before  all  our  eyes,  when 
we  formed  the  chain,  and  Slade  laid  one  hand  on  the  slate.  The 
conclusion  of  the  spirit-writing  was  denoted  by  three  sharp  raps; 
and  the  slate  being  lifted  up,  we  found  the  whole  under  side  of  it 
written  over,  first  by  an  address  from  Slade’s  wife  in  English,  and 
next  by  a  message  in  German  from  a  spirit-relative.  A  communi¬ 
cation  from  the  deceased  father  of  the  lady  of  the  house  was  especi¬ 
ally  striking,  as  his  characteristics  and  habitual  expressions  when  on 
earth  were  quite  distinctly  recognizable  in  it.  Besides  the  great 
resemblance  of  the  writing  on  the  slate  to  that  of  the  deceased,  his 
identity  was  apparent  from  a  certain  manner  of  speech,  and  such 
phrases  as  ‘  We  must  all  die,’  which  came  upon  the  slate.  And 
in  many  of  these  communications  the  like  resemblances  were 
observable.  Among  others,  the  brother  of  the  lady  of  the  house 
communicated,  and  in  verse,  a  custom  he  had  when  on  earth, 
especially  in  writing  to  his  sister,  whom  he  generally  addressed  in 
rhymes.  She  recognized  her  brother  very  clearly  in  this,  and  on 
comparing  the  writing  with  that  of  his  letters,  just  the  same  strokes 
were  found  in  them.  This  communication  was  obtained  in  the 
following  manner:  — 

“  A  young  lady  (a  relative  of  the  family)  who  sat  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  table,  opposite  Mr.  Slade,  took  in  her  left  hand,  by  his 
direction,  two  slates  connected  by  binges;  a  small  pencil  was  laid 
between  them,  and  she  joined  her  right  hand  to  the  chain  of  hands 
on  the  table.  Mr.  Slade  sat  quite  away  from  the  slates,  and  his 
hands  were  likewise  joined  in  the  chain;  and  under  these  condi¬ 
tions,  to  our  great  astonishment,  writing  began  between  the  slates. 
The  young  lady,  according  to  Mr.  Slade,  was  mediumistic,  there¬ 
fore  it  was  that  she  could  obtain  writing  while  holding  the  slate 


SLATE-WRITINO. 


189 


herself  alone,  which  was  not  the  case  with  the  others;  she  also 
jperceived  the  pressure  upon  the  under  side  of  the  slate  while  it 
was  being  written  upon.  .  .  . 

“  Such  direct  writings  covered  at  least  twelve  slates,  which  were 
bought  here,  and  came  to  Mr.  Slade’s  hands  for  the  first  time 
before  all  eyes,  without  bis  having  any  possible  opportunity  for 
*  preparing  ’  them,  or  for  writing  upon  them  without  continual 
observation.  Mr.  Slade  often  held  the  slate  quite  sloping,  at  an 
oblique  angle,  and  yet  the  pencil  upon  it  did  not  slip  to  the  edge, 
but  wrote  quietly  on.  The  supposition  one  so  often  hears  that  the 
slates  are  ‘  prepared  ’  by  Mr.  Slade  will  not  stand  examination, 
because  he  washes  out  the  answers,  given  to  his  questions  by  the 
spirits,  on  the  slate,  which  (the  same  one)  is  again  written  upon ; 
this  also,  as  always,  happening  under  observation.  When  once 
during  a  seance,  at  which  writing  was  going  on  under  a  slate,  one 
of  the  circle  raised  his  hand,  quietly  and  without  being  observed, 
from  that  of  his  neighbor,  the  writing  suddenly  ceased,  the  con¬ 
nection  being  thus  disturbed.  Mr.  Slade  looked  up,  and,  seeing 
what  had  happened,  requested  the  gentleman  referred  to  to  try 
the  experiment  frequently,  and  each  time  the  writing  ceased,  and 
began  again  as  soon  as  the  chain  was  re-closed.  There  were 
many  other  manifestations.  For  instance,  a  bell  under  the  table 
came  out  of  its  own  accord,  ringing,  rose  high  up  in  the  air,  and 
let  itself  gently  down,  still  ringing,  on  the  table.  A  slate  placed 
under  the  table  was  shivered  into  small  pieces,  as  by  lightning, 
and  the  fragments  flew  in  a  curve  over  our  heads,  and  so  on  to  the 
floor.  During  a  seance  another  heavy  table,  which  stood  at  some 
distance  from  the  one  at  which  we  sat,  came  with  a  rush  of  extra¬ 
ordinary  speed  and  force  to  the  side  of  a  gentleman  among  us, 
whom  we  thought  must  have  been  hurt;  but  it  only  touched  him 
quite  gently.  The  spirits  gave  to  a  hydropathic  doctor,  who  was 
present,  a  token  of  esteem  for  his  practice  by  wetting  him  with  a 
jet  of  water,  which  came  from  a  corner  of  the  ceiling  opposite  him. 
Just  afterwards  my  knee  was  tightly  grasped  by  a  wet  hand,  so 
that  I  felt  the  wet  lingers  sharply,  and  on  examination  I  found  tbo 


100 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PIIVSIC3. 


moisture  on  my  trouser.  (Mr.  Slade,  during  this  time,  had  hi3 
hands  linked  in  the  chain  formed  by  those  of  all  present.) 

“Another  interesting  fact  is  that  when  my  Principal  (Herr 
Schmid),  Mr.  Slade,  and  I  were  holding  our  hands  lightly  on  the 
table,  the  latter  went  up,  hovering  in  the  air,  and  turned  itself 
over  above  our  heads,  so  that  its  legs  were  turned  upwards. 

“What  an  enormous  force  Mr.  Slade  must  have  applied  to 
evoke  these  manifestations  deceptively  is  shown  by  the  following 
case.  When  I  was  sitting  a  little  distance  from  him,  he  likewise 
sitting,  he  stretched  out  his  arm  and  laid  his  hand  on  the  back  of 
my  chair.  All  at  once  I  was  raised,  with  the  chair,  swaying  in 
the  air  about  a  foot  high,  as  if  drawn  up  by  a  pulley,  without  any 
exertion  whatever  by  Slade,  who  simply  raised  his  hand,  the  chair 
following  it  as  if  it  were  a  magnet.  This  experiment  was  often 
repeated  with  others. 

“  Mr.  Slade  held  an  accordion  under  the  table,  grasping  it  by 
the  strap  at  the  side;  his  other  band  lay  on  the  table.  Immedi¬ 
ately  we  heard  the  falling  boards  move,  and  a  fine  melody  was 
played. 

“  The  experiment  with  two  compasses  was  also  tried ;  these  were 
placed  close  together,  and  when  Mr.  Slade  held  his  band  over 
them,  the  magnetic  needle  in  one  of  the  compasses  began  quickly 
swinging  round  in  complete  rotations,  while  the  needle  in  the 
other  compass  remained  at  rest,  and  so  also  conversely.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  the  laws  of  physics  known  hitherto,  if  Mr.  Slade  had  been 
secretly  applying  a  magnet,  as  is  so  frequently  alleged  by  oppo¬ 
nents,  both  needles  must  have  been  set  in  motion,  as  they  were 
quite  close  together,  yet  this  was  not  the  case. 

“  One  of  the  most  wonderful  manifestations  was  the  following  : 
Mr.  Slade  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  I  on  his  right,  on 
my  right  my  Principal,  and  behind  us,  at  the  window,  stood  a 
young  lady.  While  in  this  position  we  were  conversing,  and  my 
Principal  was  about  to  go  into  the  next  room  to  fetch  something, 
a  heavy  stone,  as  if  originating  in  the  air,  fell  before  all  our  eyes 
with  a  very  heavy  blow  upon  the  floor,  so  that  a  regular  hole  was 


SLATE-WRITING  AT  BERLIN. 


101 


made  in  the  latter;  the  stone  fell  quite  close  to  my  Principal's 
feet.  Immediately  afterwards  there  fell  a  second  stone,  the  fall 
of  which,  as  of  the  first,  we  saw  very  distinctly.  This  did  not 
happen  close  to  Slade,  for  I  and  my  Principal  were  both  between 
him  and  the  place. 

“  Occasionally  at  a  sitting  we  saw  a  materialized  hand ;  it  would 
tear  the  slate  forcibly  out  of  Slade’s  hand  under  the  table ;  it 
appeared  suddenly  at  the  side  of  the  table,  and  quickly  vanished 
again ;  it  was  a  strong  hand,  quite  like  one  of  flesh  and  blood. 

“  A  slate  was  regularly  wrenched  out  of  my  Principal’s  hand ; 
it  then  made  the  round  of  the  table,  hovering  free  in  the  air 
before  all  eyes . Slade  came  here  alone  without  any  com¬ 

panion.” 

Professor  Zdllner  next  refers  to  the  manifestations  obtaiued 
through  Slade  at  Berlin,  of  which  he  had  .received  information 
from  visitors  and  correspondents.  Among  the  slates  which  were 
brought  or  forwarded  to  him  was  one  written  upon  in  six  differ¬ 
ent.  languages,  and  which  Professor  Zdllner  ascertained,  upon 
examination,  to  be  free  from  the  “preparation”  by  artificial  means 
so  often  suggested  as  the  probable  explanation  of  the  long  sen¬ 
tences  coming  upon  apparently  clean  slates  during  Slade’s  seances. 
In  this  ease,  moreover,  as  will  be  seen,  the  slate  was  brought  by 
the  investigators,  and  was  never  in  Slade’s  custody  at  all;  nor  was 
there  the  smallest  opportunity  afforded  for  effecting  an  exchange. 
The  correspondent  from  whom  the  author  received  the  account  was 
a  “Herr  Director  Inching,”  of  Berlin,  who  obtained  the  details 
from  the  owner  of  the  slate,  in  whose  presence  it  was  written  upon, 
with  full  authority  to  transmit  them  to  Professor  Zdllner  for  pub¬ 
lication,  with  the  slate.  Although  it  would  have  been  preferable 
to  have  had  the  account  direct  from  this  gentleman,  it  appears 
from  the  correspondence  in  the  text  (which  it  is  not  thought  neces¬ 
sary  to  reproduce  literally  and  at  length  in  this  translation)  that 
the  statement  was  submitted  to  him  for  correction,  was  in  fact  cor¬ 
rected  by  him,  and  is  thus,  as  here  given,  in  effect  his  own.  lie 
was  a  Ilerr  Klccberg,  residing  at  No.  5  Schmied  Street,  Berlin, 

O’  O  77 


192 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSICS. 


and  “'of  a  very  respectable  firm”  in  that  city.  He  and  a  friend 
of  his,  a  “  thorough  skeptic,”  took  two  slates  to  Slade.  One  slate 
was  covered  by  the  other,  and  beyond  putting  a  piece  of  slate-pen¬ 
cil  between  them,  Slade  never  touched  them,  at  all.  Herr  Klee- 
berg  and  his  friend  then  held  the  two  slates,  so  joined  together  by 
their  hands,  above  the  table,  suspended  over  it,  in  full  daylight, 
and  writing  at  once  began.  When  it  was  over,  and  the  slates 
were  separated,  the  lower  one  was  found  covered  with  writing,  as 
shown  in  Plate  IX.  One  long  passage  was  in  English,  five  short 
sentences  in  French,  German,  Dutch,  Greek,  and  Chinese  (the 
latter  according  to  the  judgment  of  a  student  of  Oriental  lan¬ 
guages),  respectively.  They  were  as  follows :  — 

1.  Look  about  over  the  great  mass  of  human  intelligence  and 
see  for  what  these  endowments  are  given  to  man.  Is  it  not  to 
unfold  (in)  the  great  truths  God  has  embodied  in  him  ?  Is  it  not 
mind  that  frames  your  mighty  fabrics  ?  —  the  soul  that  is  endowed 
with  powers.  Shall  he  not  go  on  unfolding  these  powers  as  God 
has  sent  His  angels  to  do?  Must  man  pass  his  judgments  on  God’s 
laws  that  lie  does  not  understand?  We  say  No. 

2.  Es  ist  mir  schmeichelhaft  Sie  bedienen  zu  konnen.  (I  am 
proud  to  be  able  to  serve  you.) 

3.  Que  la  grace  soit  avec  vous  tous  qui  etes  en  Jesus  Christ. 
Amen.  (The  grace  of  God  be  with  you  all  who  are  in  Jesus 
Christ.  Amen.) 

4.  Ol  novrjQOi  sjV  to  x e()8oi  j uovov  dnof/dnovaiv.  (Bad  men 
look  only  to  their  own  advantage.) 

5.  Die  het  zaadije  wasdom  geeft  En  verzadigt  al  wat  leef’t. 
(Who  to  the  seed-com  increase  gives  nourishes  all  that  therein 
lives.) 

The  last  sentence,  supposed  to  be  Chinese,  was  not  understood. 


APPENDIX  A. 


THE  VALUE  OF  TESTIMONY  IN  MATTERS  EXTRAOR¬ 
DINARY.* 

BY  CHARLES  CARLETON  MASSEY. 

The  proposition  that  evidence,  to  command  assent,  should  be 
proportioned  to  the  probability  or  improbability  of  the  fact  to  be 
proved  is  constantly  appealed  to  as  the  rational  foundation  of 
skeptical  or  negative  judgment.  I  ask  you  this  evening  to  come 
to  close  quarters  with  it,  to  consider  what  it  means,  and  whether  it 
is  legitimately  applied.  There  are  perhaps  no  two  words  iu  the 
language  more  liable  to  abuse,  or  more  frequently  abused,  than 
probability  and  the  word  expressing  that  upon  which  probability 
is  said  to  be  founded,  namely,  experience ;  for  there  is  here  no 
question  of  those  definitely-ascertained  probabilities  which  result 
from  the  computation  of  known  chances,  and  which  are,  therefore, 
not  matters  of  experience  at  all.  It  is  by  reference  to  these,  how- 
"cver,  that  we  shall  have  the  principle  in  question  most  clearly 
before  us.  Suppose,  for  example,  evidence  of  such  a  character 
and  amount  that  the  chance  against  its  being  forthcoming  for  what 
is  not  true  is  as  5  to  1,  and  that  it  is  given  for  an  event  against 
which  the  chance  is  as  10  to  1,  the  resulting  probability  is  2  to 
1  against  the  evidence.  Now  it  is  said  that  the  inductions  from 
experience  afford  us  a  similar,  though  not  equally  definite,  meas¬ 
ure  of  proportion  between  the  probability  of  facts  and  the  value  of 
evidence. 

*A  Paper  read  before  the  Psychological  Society  of  Great  Britain, on  Thursday, 
June  Cth,  1878.  . 

09 7) 


198 


APPENDIX  A. 


And  as  to  a  large  class  of  alleged  facts,  we  arc  met  at  the  out¬ 
set  of  our  inquiry  liy  the  previous  question,  whether  testimony  in 
relation  to  them  has  any  value  whatever?  The  probability  in 
favor  of  testimony,  even  at  its  best,  it  is  said,  can  never  equal  that 
which  results  from  the  uniform  negative  experience  of  mankind. 
Urn-  faith  in  testimony  is  based  on  the  same  principle  of  experi¬ 
ence,  and  therefore  testimony  can  never  prove  a  fact  which  is  con¬ 
trary  to  a  wider  induction.  This  is  the  extreme  application  .of  the 
principle  as  we  lind  it  in  Hume’s  celebrated  argument  against 
miracles.  It  is  not  quite  the  same,  though  practically  it  has  the 
same  effect,  as  that  absolute  a  priori  denial  of  the  possibility  of 
the  facts  attested  to  which  few  scientific  minds  will  explicitly  com¬ 
mit  themselves.  It  does  not  say  that  our  inductions  as  to  what  is 
possible,  or  in  rerum  naturd,  are  certain,  but  that  they  have  a 
greater  force  -  than  any  testimony  which  can  be  adduced  against 
them,  which  therefore  is  not  entitled  even  to  consideration. 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  I  would  invite  you  to  consider  when  it 
can  and  when  it  cannot  be  said  with  accuracy  that  an  alleged  fact 
contradicts  experience.  In  one  sense,  of  course,  it  cannot  be  accu¬ 
rately  said  at  all.  Your  experience  that  contact  with  fire  has 
always  burned  you  remains  unchallenged  and  uncon tradictod  by 
any  assertion  of  mine  that  on  one  occasion  or  on  half-a-dozen  occa¬ 
sions  it  has  not  burned  me.  But  experience  is  a  term  used  loosely 
to  denote  our  inductions  from  experience;  and  this  is  the  first 
thing  I  ask  you  to  mark.  What,  again,  is  a  fact  in  relation  to 
experience?  If  you  and  I  have  seen  the  same  object,  and  you 
describe  it  as  of  one  apparent  dimension,  and  I  describe  it  as  of 
another  and  vastly  different  apparent  dimension,  does  my  experi¬ 
ence  contradict  yours?  Not  necessarily;  for  we  may  have  both 
described  the  apparent  object  abstracted  from  the  conditions  of 
distance  under  which  we  severally  saw  it.  This  tendency  to 
abstract  from  the  context  of  experience,  in  other  words,  to  ignore 
conditions,  is  just  what  distinguishes  the  popular  from  the  scientific 
conception  of  a  fact.  And  until  we  know  all  the  conditions  under 
which  anything  is  said  to  have  occurred,  we  cannot  properly  speak 
of  it  as  opposed  to  our  own  experience.  The  next  remark  I  have  to 
make  is  that,  d  priori,  we  do  not  know  which  of  the  circumstances 
attending  even  the  most  familiar  facts  of  experience  are  conditions 
and  which  arc  entirely  irrelevant.  Transport  yourself  to  an  imag¬ 
ined  infancy  of  experience,  and  you  could  not  predict  from  the 
fact  that  lire  had  burned  you  in  one  place  or  time  that  it  would 
bum  you  in  another,  or  that  it  would  burn  me.  .Difference  of 
place,  time,  or  person  might,  for  all  you  could  know  beforehand, 


APPENDIX  A. 


199 


provide  entirely  new  conditions.  Now  if  it  was  asserted,  as  in 
tact  it  is  asserted  with  regard  to  a  large  class  of  alleged  phe¬ 
nomena,  that  personality,  that  spccalities  of  human  organism  do 
introduce  new  conditions,  resulting  in  these  unusual  phenomena 
under  certain  other  conditions  not  scientifically  known,  tliis  would 
not  be  and  is  not  to  contradict  the  common  experience  which,  ex 
hypothesi,  knows  nothing  of  these  exceptional  personalities.  Bear¬ 
ing  in  mind,  then,  that  no  experience  or  amount  of  experience  has 
the  least  relevance  to  an  alleged  fact  except  under  the  exact  con¬ 
ditions,  inclusive  and  exclusive,  of  its  occurrence,  and  that  we  can¬ 
not  say  beforehand  what  are  conditions  and  what  are  not,  the 
experience  argument,  in  relation  to  the  phenomena  in  question, 
resolves  itself  into  this :  that  inasmuch  as  the  alleged  personalities 
which,  as  the  one  constant  element  must  be  regarded  as  the  condi¬ 
tion,  are  exceptional  and  abnormal,  therefore  their  existence  is  so 
improbable  that  testimony  cannot  prove  it.  What  is  this  but  to 
say  that  the  abnormal  can  never  be  proved  by  testimony  V  Nay, 
more,  that  testimony  can  never  make  such  a  provisional  and  primu 
facie  case  as  to  justify  a  reasonable  man  in  seeking  for  the  higher 
evidence  of  his  own  experience,  in  other  words,  in  investigating 
for  himself.  Nor  such  a  primu.  facie  case  is  a  probable  case,  and 
here  it  is  said  that  the  balance  of  probability  is  largely  against  the 
fact.  I  am  endeavoring  to  get  at  the  precise  point  in  issue;  and 
1  say  that  the  man  who  exclaims  “  Objects  moving  without  phys¬ 
ical  contact!  writing  read  without  eyes!  matter  passing  through 
matter !  writing  without  hands !  these  things  are  opposed  to  all 
human  experience !  ”  is  talking  wildly  and  loosely.  What,  if  he 
would  condescend  to  be  exact  and  logical,  he  really  means  is  that 
it  is  opposed  to  a  negative  induction  from  the  absence  of  experi¬ 
ence  that  individuals  should  exist  who  can  provide  new  conditions 
of  physical  operation.  But  the  question  is,  is  this  induction  to 
he  regarded  as  final?  And  as  we  are  dealing  with  the  experience 
school  solely  with  its  own  weapons,  let  us  see  what  experience  says 
to  that;  and  I  should  have  thought  that  if  there  was  one  induc¬ 
tion  from  experience  historically  and  scientifically  valid  it  was  that 
other  inductions  from  experience  —  and  especially  negative  induc¬ 
tions —  are  not  final.  Our  widest  inductions  are  precisely  those 
which  we  make  in  the  infancy  of  experience  and  science.  Science 
advances  by  the  discovery  of  new  conditions  which  limit  general 
rules.  What  was  rejected  as  abnormal  yesterday  is  found  to  have 
a  law  of  its  own  today.  In  a  word,  if  the  widest  and  highest, 
experience  of  mankind  can  afford  us  a  canon  of  probability,  it  is 
tliis — that  testimony,  otherwise  sufficient,  to  the  exceptional,  the 


•200 


APPENDIX  A. 


abnormal,  tbc  strange,  and  the  new  is  probably  true,  and  not 
probably  false.  Set  side  by  side  the  cases  in  which  new  facts  of 
nature  have  been  asserted  and  proved  to  be  true  with  the  cases  in 
which  they  have  been  well  asserted  and  yet  disproved,  or  not 
proved,  and  who  that  is  acquainted  even  superficially  with  the  his¬ 
tory  of  science  and  discovery  would  hesitate  to  say  which  list 
affords  us  the  best  foundation  for  an  induction  ? 

I  submit,  then,  as  the  results  of  the  foregoing  considerations  — 

1.  That  testimony  to  the  extraordinary,  of  which  the  phenomena 
referred  to  may  be  taken  as  a  type,  is  falsely  opposed  to  experi¬ 
ence.  2.  That  what  it  is  opposed  to  is  simply  a  negative  induc¬ 
tion  from  the  absence  of  experience.  3.  That  a  more  general 
experience  teaches  us  that  such  negative  inductions  cease  to  be 
probably  true  so  soon  as  they  are  opposed  to  testimony  of  a  char¬ 
acter  sufficient  to  establish  any  other  fact. 

It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  be  able  to  state  that  since  the 
above  was  written  I  have  found  the  distinction  between  positive 
and  negative  experience,  and  the  character  of  the  inductions  from 
caeh„very  ably  and  elaborately  explained  in  a  long  note  by  Mr. 
Starkio,  in  his  Treatise  on  the  Law  of  Evidence.  I  do  not  quote 
this  note  in  extenso,  because  I  hope  the  distinction  is  already  obvi¬ 
ous  to  all.  Mr.  Starkic’s  observations  refer  expressly  to  Hume’s 
principle  of  incredulity;  and  he  shows,  as  Mr.  A.  R.  Wallace  has 
also  shown,  that  pushed  to  its  logical  consequences  that  principle 
would  be  absolutely  fatal  to  all  scientific  progress.  One  could 
almost  imagine  the  following  passage  to  have  been  written  in  pro¬ 
phetic  protest  against  the  appeals  to  Hume  by  the  skeptics  who 
treat  with  contumely  and  derision  every  testimony  to  the  occult 
phenomena  of  the  present  day:  “Experience,  then,  so  far  from 
pointing  out  any  unalterable  laws  of  nature,  to  the  exclusion  of 
events  or  phenomena  which  have  never  before  been  experienced, 
and  which  cannot  be  accounted  for  by  the  laws  already  observed, 
shows  the  very  contrary,  and  proves  that  such  new  events  or  phe¬ 
nomena  may  become  the  foundation  of  more  enlarged,  more  general, 
and  therefore  more  perfect  laws.”  And  in  the  text  Mr.  Starkio 
says :  “  As  experience  shows  that  events  frequently  occur  which  1 
would  antecedently  have  been  considered  most  improbable,  and 
as  their  improbability  usually  arises  from  want  of  a  more  intimate 
and  correct  knowledge  of  the  causes  which  produced  them,  mere 
improbability  can  rarely  supply  a  sufficient  grouud  for  disbeliev¬ 
ing  direct  and  unexceptionable  witnesses  of  the  fact  where  there 
was  no  room  for  mistake.” 

And  again :  “  Mr.  Ilume’s  conclusion  is  highly  objecti  ble 


APPENDIX  A. 


2C1 


in  a  philosophical  point  of  view,  inasmuch  as  it  would  leave  phe¬ 
nomena  of  the  most  remarkable  nature  wholly  unexplained,  and 
would  operate  to  the  utter  exclusion  of  all  inquiry  Estoppels  are 
odious  even  in  judicial  investigations,  because  they  tend  to  exclude 
the  truth;  in  metaphysics  they  are  intolerable.  So  conscious  was 
Mr.  Hume  himself  of  the  weakness  of  his  general  and  sweeping 
position  that,  in  the  second  part  of  his  10th  section,  he  limits  his 
inference  in  these  remarkable  terms :  ‘  I  beg  the  limitations  here 
made  may  be  remarked  when  I  say  that  a  miracle  can  never  be 
proved  so  as  to  be  the  foundation  of  a  system  of  religion ;  for  I 
own  that  otherwise  there  may  possibly  be  miracles  or  violations  of 
the  usual  course  of  nature  of  such  a  kind  as  to  admit  of  proof 
from  human  testimony.'  ” 

Now  this  limitation,  by  which  Hume  reduced  the  breadth  of  his 
original  proposition,  is  simply  a  too  arbitrary  application  of  a  prin¬ 
ciple  of  criticism  of  testimony,  in  itself  entirely  unobjectionable, 
and  upon  which,  indeed,  it  is  one  of  the  objects  of  this  paper  most 
strongly  to  insist.  Obviously,  what  is  regarded  in  the  proposition 
thus  limited  is  not  the  improbability  of  the  fact  at  all,  but  the 
temptation  of  the  witnesses  to  deceive,  or  their  liability  to  be 
deceived.  That  is  a  legitimate  and  necessary  consideration,  result¬ 
ing  from  our  experience  of  human  motives  and  of  the  ell'ect  of  pre¬ 
possessions,  in  the  estimation  of  testimony.  If  the  object  of  the 
witness,  as  of  the  early  Christian,  for  example,  is  to  persuade  the 
world  of  the  divine  authorship  of  a  religion,  that  object,  and  the 
heat  and  zeal  with  which  it  would  probably  be  pursued,  might  un¬ 
doubtedly  supply  a  motive,  proper  to  be  taken  into  account,  for 
statements  of  miracles  performed  by  the  author  of  the  religion. 
And  so  the  preconception  of  Ilis  divine  powers  would  predispose 
to  a  facility  of  accepting  appearances  as  miraculous,  quite  incon¬ 
sistent  with  the  cool  and  scientific  observation  which  we  desiderate 
in  the  witnesses.  These  considerations  undoubtedly  go  to  weaken 
the  force  of  testimony ;  whether  they  do  so  in  such  a  degree  as  to 
deprive  it  of  all  value  is  really  a  ma  ter  of  individual  opinion,  and 
certainly,  apart  from  the  circumstances  of  each  case,  cannot  pre¬ 
tend  to  the  dignity  of  a  universal  principle  of  judgment,  llurne 
has  few  greater  admirers  than  myself;  but  I  am  forced  to  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  the  celebrated  Essay  on  Miracles,  which  he  put  forth 
with  almost  exulting  confidence,  is  one  of  the  weakest,  the  most 
ill  considered,  and  the  most  inconsistent  pieces  of  reasoning  with 
which  I  am  acquainted.  It  has  been  completely  overthrown  by 
three  writers  who  have  dealt  with  it,  and  of  whom  the  later  do  not 
appear  to  have  met  with  the  earlier  refutations, —  by  Mr.  Starkic, 


202 


APPENDIX  A. 


by  Mr.  Babbage,  in  the  Ninth  Bridgewater  Treatise,  and  by  Mr. 
A.  II.  Wallace,  in  the  Introduction  to  his  Miracles  and  Modern 
Spiritualism. 

I  have  endeavored  to  point  out  the  fallacy  of  what  seems  to  me 
a  false  application  of  the  principle  that  evidence  should  be  propor¬ 
tioned  to  probability.  I  will  now  attempt  to  state,  in  an  abstract 
form,  what  1  submit  is  its  true  result  in  our  experience  of  testi¬ 
mony.  If  it  is  possible  to  assign  a  ratio  of  probability  to  a  fact, 
not  being  one  subject  to  exact  computation,  it  is  also  possible  to 
assign  a  similar  ratio  to  the  value  of  evidence,  for  the  value  of 
evidence  is  just  the  probability  against  its  being  forthcoming  for 
that  which  is  not  a  fact.  If  it  is  legitimate  to  consider  the  proba¬ 
bility  of  a  fact  apart  from  the  evidence  for  it,  so  it  is  legitimate  to 
consider  the  general  value  of  a  particular  quality  and  amount  of 
testimony  apart  from  the  probability  of  any  special  fact  to  which 
it  may  be  applied.  No  antecedent  preference  is  duo  to  the  one 
probability  over  the  other  if  they  arc  equal,  but  the  result  is  that 
precisely  in  proportion  as  both  the  fact  is  improbable  and  the  evi¬ 
dence  is  probable,  you  will  not  get  the  evidence  for  the  fact,  that 
is  to  say,  just  in  that  proportion  you  are  unlikely  to  get  it.  And 
if  we  find,  and  find  often,  evidence  which  we  deem  to  be  good  for 
a  fact  which  we  deem  to  be  improbable,  of  one  of  two  things  we 
may  be  certain,  either  we  have  miscalculated  the  value  of  the  evi¬ 
dence  or  the  probability  of  the  fact.  Now,  in  relation  to  facts  new 
to  our  experience,  to  facts  of  which  the  proof  of  their  possibility 
is  also  the  proof  of  their  existence,  which  of  these  alternatives  is 
the  most  probable  ?  Whatever  induction  experience  may  afford  of 
what  may  be  called  the  abstract  value  of  evidence  —  that  is  with¬ 
out  regard  to  the  antecedent  probabilities  of  the  fact  to  be  proved 
—  is  positive  and  affirmative.  It  is  constantly  being  verified.  It 
depends  on  tests  and  criteria,  the  efficiency  of  which  arc  also  being 
constantly  guaranteed  by  experience.  How  stands  the  case  with 
that  other  negative  induction  to  which  it  is  opposed?  The  proba¬ 
bility  in  its  j'avor  is  just  the  probability  that  good  evidence  will 
•not  be  forthcoming  to  contradict  it.  It  is  a  probability  which  arises 
entirely  from  the  absence  of  evidence.  It  is  impossible  to  con¬ 
ceive  more  vicious  reasoning  than  that  which  would  make  it  a 
!  ground  of  rejecting  evidence.  It  depends  on  the  proposition  :  “If 
this  were  true,  we  should  have  had  the  evidence  before”  —  which 
amounts  to  this,  as  has  been  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Starkie,  and  by 
Mr.  A.  H.  Wallace,  in  the  admirable  Introduction  to  his  book, 
Miracles  and  Modern  Spiritualism,  that  no  new  fact  can  ever  bo 
proved  by  testimony.  And  I  cannot  conclude  this  part  of  the 


APPENDIX  A. 


20.1 


argument  hotter  than  by  quoting  that  writer’s  neat  dilemma  in 
reply  to  Hume:  “If  the  fact  were  possible,  such  evidence  as  we 
have  been  considering  would  prove  it ;  if  it  were  not  possible,  that 
evidence  would  not  exist.” 

Something  remains  to  he  said  on  the  effect  of  cumulative  evi¬ 
dence.  The  late  Mr.  Babbage,  in  the  Ninth  Bridgwater  Treatise , 
has  worked  out  an  elaborate  mathematical  refutation  of  Hume’s 
principle.  And  he  concludes  that  if  any  definite  measure  of 
improbability,  however  large,  he  adopted,  that  is  to  say,  if  the 
improbability  be  short  of  infinite  (and  no  one  has  ever  contended 
that  it  is  this,  or,  in  other  words,  that  the  fact  is  impossible ),_a 
miracle,  so  called,  can  be  proved  hy  testimony.  Taking  m  as  the 
measure  of  improbability,  lie  says,  “  It  follows  therefore,  that  how¬ 
ever  large  m  may  be,  however  great  the  quantity  of  experience 
against  the  occurrence  of  a  miracle  (provided  only  that  there  are 
persons  whose  statements  are  more  frequently  correct  than  incor¬ 
rect,  and  who  give  their  testimony  in  favor  of  it  without  collusion), 
a  certain  number,  n,  can  always  be  found,  so  that  it  shall  he  a 
greater  improbability  that  their  unanimous  statement  shall  he  a 
falsehood  than  that  the  miracle  shall  have  occurred.”  Taking  the 
case  of  only  six  witnesses  who  will  speak  the  truth,  and  are  not 
themselves  deceived  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred,  Mr. 
Babbage  deduces  the  result  that  the  improbability  of  their  inde¬ 
pendent  concurrence  in  testifying  to  what  is  not  a  fact  is  five 
times  as  great  as  an  assumed  improbability  of  two  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  millions  to  one  against  the  miracle  which  they  are  supposed  to 
attest,  or  it  is  one  billion  to  that  number.  And  it  hardly  needs 
demonstration  that  the  same  result  is  arrived  at  by  increasing  the 
number  of  witnesses  in  proportion  to  any  definite  numerical  deduc¬ 
tion  from  the  value  of  the  individual  testimony  of  each.  To  this 
scientific  authority  I  will  add  a  legal  one  to  the  same  effect.  “  It 
would,”  says  Mr.  Starkie,  in  his  treatise  on  the  Law  of  Evidence, 
“  theoretically  speaking,  he  improper  to  omit  to  observe  that  the 
weight  and  force  of  the  united  testimony  of  numbers  upon  abstract 
mathematical  principles  increases  in  a  higher  ratio  than  that  of  the 
mere  number  of  such  witnesses.  Upon  these  principles,  if  definite 
degrees  of  probability  could  be  assigned  to  the  testimony  of  each 
witness,  the  resulting  probability  in  favor  of  their  united  testi¬ 
mony  would  be  obtained  not  hy  the  mere  addition  of  the  numbers 
expressing  the  several  probabilities,  hut  hy  a  process  of  multiplica¬ 
tion.”  Now  it  is  obvious  that  in  applying  these  principles  to  a 
class  of  alleged  facts  denied  on  the  ground  of  antecedent  improba¬ 
bility,  we  ought  to  take,  in  computing  the  cumulative  force  of  tes- 


204' 


APl'UNDIX  A. 


timony,  not  simply  the  testimony  which  this  or  that  fact  of  tho 
class  adduces,  hut  all  the  testimony  which  exists  for  all  similar 
alleged  facts  comprised  in  the  class.  Let  M  represent  the  class, 
comprising  under  it  a,  b,  c,  d,  particular  alleged  instances.  We 
may  state  the  result  in  either  one  or  two  ways.  Either  we  may 
oppose  the  improbability  of  (class)  M  to  the  cumulative  evidence 
of  a,  b,  c,  d,  taken  together,  or,  taking  a  by  itself,  we  may  say  that 
the  improbability  against  a  is  the  improbability  of  M,  the  class, 
minus  the  probability  resulting  from  the  cumulative  testimony  in 
favor  of  b,  c,  ami  d  taken  together.  Now  to  apply  the  foregoing 
considerations  to  cases  of  actual  occurrence.  I  could  not  go  into 
details  here  without  protracting  this  paper  beyond  reasonable 
limits,  but  the  cases  I  shall  take  arc  already  familiar  to  many  in 
this  room,  and  as  they  are  ou  record,  with  the  utmost  particularity 
of  description,  others  may  be  referred  to  the  printed  accounts.  I 
select  then  a  number  of  testimonies  to  distinct  facts  of  the  same 
class,  namely,  of  physical  effects  produced  by  means  unknown  to 
science,  and  each  depending  on  the  introduction  of  new  physical 
conditions  by  special  human  organisms,  which,  as  before  stated, 
and  not  any  particular  effect,  is  the  fact  really,  if  at  all,  opposed 
to  experience.  Let  me  again  request  you  to  keep  this  clearly  in 
mind.  If  I  say  that  an  effect  depends  upon  the  powers  of  a  cer¬ 
tain  person,  your  experience  is  evidently  not  opposed  to  the  effect 
except  so  far  as  it  is  opposed  to  the  existence  of  such  powers  in 
members  of  the  human  race.  Your  experience  of  the  uniform 
course  of  physical  nature  is  wholly  and  absolutely  irrelevant. 
Nobody  has  ever  asserted  that  these  things  would  occur  in  your 
presence  alone.  If  ycu  are  to  bring  the  experience  argument  to 
bear  at  all,  it  must  be  in  denying  the  alleged  conditions  of  their 
occurrence, —  the  chief  of  these  conditions,  in  this  case,  relating  to 
the  personality  of  individuals.  That  premised,  the  several  alleged 
facts,  I  take,  belong  to  the  same  class,  namely,  those  that  depend 
on  the  presence  of  persons  reputed  to  be  psychics,  or  mediums. 
The  first  is  the  experiment  recorded  in  the  April  number  of  the 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Science  of  Professor  Zbllner  and  other  Ger¬ 
man  scientists  with  Dr.  Slade.  In  this,  as  in  the  other  cases  to 
be  presently  mentioned,  I  have  taken  the  testimony  of  well-known 
men  of  scientific  eminence,  because,  although  their  veracity  may 
not  be  worth  more  than  that  of  other  witnesses  to  these  facts,  it 
may  be  called  a  known  quantity.  The  improbability  of  Zollner’s 
lying  would,  1  imagine,  be  admitted  to  exceed  Mr.  Babbage’s  100 
tc  1.  And  so  also  of  the  others  to  be  named.  But  how  arc  we 
to  assign  a  value  to  the  improbability  of  his  being  deceived?  Now 


APPENDIX  A. 


205 


here,  I  must  remind  you,  the  improbability  of  the  fact  attested  is 
wholly  beside  the  question.  That  is  a  matter  to  be  taken  into  cal¬ 
culation  subsequently.  For  the  present  purpose  die  probability  of 
his  being  deceived  or  mistaken  is  just  what  it  would  have  been  if 
he  was  performing  the  most  ordinary  experiment  in  the  world, 
under  the  same  conditions  of  observation,  and  with,  of  course,  the 
same  suppositions  of  a  motive  and  design  to  deceive  him.  When 
we  have  got  this  value,  then  we  will  set  oft’  against  it  the  improba¬ 
bility  of  the  fact.  But  to  consider  the  latter  at  present  would  be 
just  as  if,  having  to  subtract  an  unknown  quantity,  x,  from  a  given 
number,  say  10,  we  begun  by  subtracting  10  from  x,  and  so  made 
the  problem  10 — (x-10)  instead  of  10-x,  an  algebraical  begging 
of  the  question.  Regarding,  then,  the  experiment  without  this 
prejudice,  I  should  say  no  numeral  would  be  considered  quite  high 
enough  to  express  the  improbability  of  Zollner’s  being  deceived. 
Add  to  this,  the  improbability  of  his  colleagues  also  being  deceived. 
But  whatever  value  we  determine  upon,  is  it  to  be  opposed  by 
itself  to  the  improbability  of  the  fact  which  would  then  be  proper 
to  be  considered  ?  No;  for  look  at  the  next  case  of  the  same 
class.  That  shall  be  the  electrical  test  experiment  of  Mr.  Crookes  ' 
with  Mrs.  Fay,  at  his  own  house,  assisted  by  several  Fellows  of 
the  Royal  Society,  as  well  as  by  our  President,  Mr.  Serjeant  Cox, 
who  all  agreed  in  the  conclusive  nature  of  the  experiment.  Lying 
again  is  out  of  the  question,  practically.  Deception  by  the 
medium  ?  Inaccuracy  of  observation  V  A  scientific  test,  devised 
by  the  most  competent  experts,  the  nature  of  it  not  explained  to 
the  medium  till  she,  who  may  almost  be  assumed  to  be  a  scientific¬ 
ally  ignorant  young  woman,  is  in  the  house  (that  of  Mr.  Crookes), 
the  apparatus  unknown  to  her,  and  its  working  watched  and 
recorded  from  minute  to  minute.  The  results  beyond  all  explic¬ 
able  power  of  production,  even  had  the  medium  been  herself  an 
accomplished  electrician,  and  intimately  versed  with  the  apparatus. 
In  calculating  probabilities,  the  same  observations  are  applicable 
here  as  to  the  case  of  Professor  Zbllner.  But  the  improbability  of 
deception  here  must  be  added,  in  the  ratio  pointed  out  by  Mr. 
Babbage  and  Mr.  Starkic,  to  that  of  the  former  case.  Take  yet 
another,  and  here  again  one  at  least  of  the  witnesses  is  a  man  of 
high  scientific  standing,  Lord  Lindsay,  who  has  recently  been 
elected  on  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Society.  He  describes  the 
levitation  of  Mr.  Daniel  Home,  and  his  floating  in  and  out  of  a 
window  seventy  feet  from  the  ground  by  bright  moonlight.  I 
will  read  the  account  iu  Lord  Lindsay’s  own  words  ? — 


206 


APPENDIX  A. 


“  I  was  sitting  with  Mr.  Home  and  Lord  Adarc,  and  a  cousin  of 
liis.  During  the  sitting  Mr.  Home  went  into  a  trance,  and  in  that 
state  was  carried  out  of  the  window  in  the  room  next  to  where  we 
were,  and  was  brought  in  at  our  window.  The  distance  between 
the  windows  was  about  7  feet  0  inches,  and  there  was  not  the 
slightest  foothold  between  them,  nor  was  there  more  than  a  12-inch 
projection  to  eacli  window,  which  served  as  a  ledge  to  put  flowers 
on. 

“  We  heard  the  window  into  the  next  room  lifted  up,  and  almost 
immediately  after  we  saw  Home  floating  in  the  air  outside  our  win¬ 
dow. 

“  The  moon  was  shining  full  into  the  room ;  my  back  was  to  the 
light,  and  I  saw  the  shadow  on  the  wall  of  the  window-sill,  and 
Home’s  feet  about  six  inches  above  it.  He  remained  in  this  posi¬ 
tion  for  a  few  seconds,  then  raised  the  window  and  glided  into  the 
room,  feet  foremost,  and  sat  down. 

“  Lord  Adare  then  went  into  the  next  room  to  look  at  the  win¬ 
dow  from  which  he  had  been  carried.  It  was  raised  about  18  inches, 
and  he  expressed  his  wonder  how  Mr.  Home  had  been  taken 
through  so  narrow  an  aperture. 

“  Home  said,  still  entranced  ‘  I  will  show  you,’  and  then  with 
his  bach  to  the  window  he  leaned  back,  and  was  shot  out  of  the 
aperture,  headfirst,  with  the  body  rigid,  and  then  returned  quite 
quietly. 

“  The  window  is  about  70  feet  from  the  ground.  I  very  much 
doubt  whether  any  skillful  tight-rope  dancer  would  like  to  attempt 
a  feat  of  this  description,  where  the  only  means  of  crossing  would 
be  by  a  perilous  leap,  or  being  borne  across  in  such  a  manner  as  I 
have  described,  placing  the  question  of  the  light  aside. 

“  Lindsay. 

“July  14th,  1871.” 

I  will  call  one  other  witness  before  you,  likewise  of  scientific 
position  and  attainments,  begging  you  to  remember  that  these  are 
only  specimen  cases.  It  is  Dr.  Lockhart  llobertson,  one  of  the 
Visitors  in  Lunacy.  Among  other  phenomena  which  took  place 
in  his  own  house,  in  the  presence  of  himself  and  his  own  friends, 
the  medium  being  a  Mr.  Squire,  Dr.  llobertson  describes  the  fol¬ 
lowing:  “A  heavy  circular  chair,  made  of  birch  and  strongly 
constructed,  was  lifted  a  somersault  in  the  air  and  thrown  on  the 
bed,  the  left  hand  only  of  Mr.  Squire  being  held  on  the  surface, 
his  other  hand  held,  and  his  legs  being  tied  to  the  chair  on  which 
lie  sat.  The  table  was  afterwards  twice  lifted  on  to  the  head  of 
the  writer  and  of  Mr.  Squire.  ....  At  the  writer’s  request  this 


APPENDIX  A. 


207 


table  was  afterwards  smashed  and  broken,  and  one  fragment 
thrown  across  the  room,  the  table  at  the  time  being  held  by  the 
writer  and  Mr.  Squire.  This  occurred  in  half  a  minute.  The 
writer  has  since  vainly  endeavored  with  all  his  strength  to  break 
one  of  the  remaining  legs.  The  one  broken  was  rent  across  the 
grain  of  the  wood.”  Dr.  Robertson  states  that  all  this  took  place 
in  the  dark,  but  probably,  looking  at  the  nature  of  the  phenomena 
and  the  conditions  described,  most  candid  persons  would  be  of  the 
opinion,  he  concludes  by  expressing,  “that  fraud  was  utterly  and 
entirely  impossible  and  impracticable.”  I  will  add  just  one  other 
testimony  of  Lord  Lindsay: — “A  friend  of  mine  was  very  anx¬ 
ious  to  find  the  will  of  his  grand-mother,  who  had  been  dead  forty 
years,  but  could  not  even  find  the  certificate  of  her  death.  I 
went  with  him  to  the  Marshalls,  and  we  had  a  seance  ;  we  sat  at 
a  table,  and  soon  the  raps  came.  My  friend  asked  his  questions 
mentally ;  he  went  over  the  alphabet  himself,  or  sometimes  I  did 
so,  not  knowing  the  question.  We  were  told  that  the  will  had 
been  drawn  by  a  man  named  Walker,  who  lived  in  Whitechapel ; 
the  name  of  the  street  and  the  number  of  the  house  were  given. 
We  went  to  Whitechapel,  found  the  man,  and  subsequently, 
through  his  aid,  obtained  a  copy  of  the  draft.  lie  was  quite 
unknown  to  us,  and  had  not  always  lived  in  that  locality,  for  he 
had  seen  better  days.  The  medium  could  not  possibly  have  known 
anything  about  the  matter,  and  even  if  she  had,  her  knowledge 
would  have  been  of  no  avail,  as  all  the  questions  were  mental 
ones.” 

If  you  would  be  rational,  do  not  laugh  at  these  cases  one  by 
one,  but  study  the  evidence  for  each  of  them  separately,  and  then 
appreciate  their  cumulative  force,  as  belonging  to  the  same  class. 
Then,  if  you  please,  set  oft'  the  improbability  arising  from  your 
own  and  others’  ignorance.  I  don’t  know  if  you  will  estimate 
that  at  Babbage’s  two  hundred  thousand  millions,  but  if  so,  you 
are  bound  to  show  —  mind,  once  more,  without  any  reference, 
express  or  tacit,  to  the  improbability  of  the  facts  —  why  the  evi¬ 
dence  should  be  estimated  at  less  than  Babbage’s  billion,  or  rather, 
since  we  have  here  more  than  six  witnesses  whose  testimony  for 
any  ordinary  fact  would  have  so  great  a  value,  at  this  billion  mul¬ 
tiplied  in  a  greater  ratio  than  my  small  mathematical  powers  could 
easily  calculate. 

But,  in  fact,  I  place  the  argument  far  higher  than  either  Mr. 
Starkie  or  Mr.  Babbage,  though  I  believed  I  am  in  accord  with  Mr. 
Wallace.  Both  the  former  assumed  that  there  is  an  antecedent 
improbability  to  be  deducted  from  the  value  of  the  positive  testi- 


APPENDIX  A. 


208 


mony.  I  deny  that  altogether.  I  say  that  an  improbability  aris¬ 
ing  from  want  of  evidence  —  which  is  the  nature  of  these  negative 
inductions  —  is  just  the  improbability  that  evidence  will  be  forth¬ 
coming.  When  you  have  got  the  evidence  the  improbability  van¬ 
ishes  just  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  the  evidence  per  se.  What 
you  mean  by  the  improbability  of  a  fact  beyond  experience  is  that 
it  is  probably  impossible  or  not  in  rerum  naturd.  What  conceiva¬ 
bly  legitimate  measure  of  this  probability  can  you  adopt  than  that 
which  also  determines  the  relation  between  evidence  and  fact? 
The  fallacy  consists  in  assuming  any  numerical  value  whatever  for 
such  antecedent  improbabilities  apart  from  this  relation.  Say  that 
the  best  single  human  testimony  has  a  value  of  100  to  1.  Now 
today,  because  I  have  never  had  that  evidence,  I  say  the  proba¬ 
bility  against  the  fact  is  represented  in  my  mind  as  1000  to  1. 
Tomorrow  I  get  the  evidence  of  that  intrinsic  value  of  100  to  1, 
and  I  say,  “  Oh,  but  the  adverse  probability  is  1000  to  1,  and  the 
value  of  this  evidence  must  be  reduced  accordingly  to  a  minus 
quantity.”  This  surely  is  unreasonable.  But  I  may  quite  logically 
say,  “Inasmuch  as  this  100  to  1  evidence  has  never  been  forth¬ 
coming,  it  raises  in  my  mind  a  presumption  worth  1000  to  1  that 
such  evidence  never  will  be  forthcoming.”  If  the  evidence  arrives 
after  all,  there  is  no  presumption  against  its  truth.  Wo  have  a 
right  to  our  surprise,  but  not  to  our  incredulity.  Because  there 
'was  no  evidence,  we  thought  there  was  no  fact.  We  had  a  right 
to  think  so.  But  the  moment  we  have  evidence  we  are  in  the 
region  of  evidence  whose  intrinsic  value  we  have  to  estimate,  all 
presumptions,  being  henceforth  merely  impertinent.  The  case  is, 
of  course,  very  different  when  we  are  dealing  with  actual,  ascer¬ 
tainable  probabilities,  as  the  probability  of  a  given  ball  being 
drawn  by  chance  from  a  hundred  others.  Then  the  chance  being 
real,  and  not  merely  supposititious,  we  properly  set  it  off  against 
the  evidence.  But  in  the  other  case  the  evidence  destroys  the 
supposition,  precisely  in  proportion  to  its  own  intrinsic  value. 

But  even  allowing  the  presumption  to  co-exist  with  the  evidence, 
it  has  appeared  that  if  no  other  evidence  of  similar  facts  had 
existed  from  the  beginning  of  recorded  time  to  the  present  besides 
these  three  cases  I  have  mentioned,  the  probability  in  their  favor 
would  still  be  greater  than  the  probability  against  them.  You  are 
instinctively  repelled  by  this  statement;  so  am  I.  We  all  feel  that 
there  must  be  something  wrong  somewhere.  And  so  there  is.  It 
is  not  that  the  hypothesis  is  an  impossible  one.  Mr.  Babbage  has 
made  a  very  ingenious  supposition.  He  has  conceived  the  course 
of  nature  to  be  like  a  machine  constructed  on  the  principle  of  his  own 


APPENDIX  A. 


209 


calculating  engine.  A  thousand  revolutions  of  the  wheel  shall 
bring  up  only  scpiare  numbers,  but  the  machine  shall  be  con¬ 
structed  so  that  the  thousand  and  first  shall  show  a  cube  number 
—  a  “miracle.”  We  can  conceive  that  certainly.  And  so  a  man 
might  be  born  today  who  should  be  the  first  of  mankiud  bora  with 
these  abnormal  powers  we  have  been  considering.  But  all 
observed  analogies  protest  against  this  supposition  of  a  purely 
exceptional  fact,  even  though  we  may  conceive  such  a  fact  to  be 
subsumed  under  a  higher  law  of  extremely  rare  application.  If 
we  have  once  proved  the  fact  under  its  own  conditions,  it  is  in  the 
highest  degree  probable  that  the  law  of  its  occun-ence  is  in  con¬ 
stant  operation.  To  suppose  that  it  is  not  is  to  encounter  a  new 
improbability  and  it  is  this  new  improbability  which  repelled  us 
just  now  in  the  supposition  that  no  other  similar  cases  had  existed 
in  human  experience.  We  should  expect  to  find  them  in  every  age. 
See  now  how  we  have  shifted  the  onus  of  improbability.  The 
proved  case  in  the  present  makes  such  cases  in  the  past  highly 
probable ;  in  other  words,  experience  cannot  have  been  truly 
opposed  to  that  which  has  just  been  proved  on  the  assumption  that 
experience  is  opposed  to  it.  And  what  do  we  find  in  fact'!1  Why, 
that  records  of  occult  phenomena,  and  especially  of  such  as  occur 
through  the  mediation  of  particular  individuals,  form  an  appreci¬ 
able  part  of  the  literature  of  every  generation  of  men  since  the 
invention  of  printing,  and  anterior  to  that  we  have,  besides  the 
manuscript  accounts  of  antiquity,  the  universal  belief  of  mankind, 
which  must  presumably  have  rested  on  experience.  Addison, 
indeed,  speaks  of  the  “  general  testimony  of  mankind”  in  favor  of 
those  facts  to  which  eighteenth  century  skepticism  —  a  product  of 
intellectual  causes  which  have  been  traced  by  Mr.  Lecky — has 
unwarrantably  opposed  that  very  general  testimony.  I  have  said 
nothing  of  the  innumerable  mob  of  witnesses  in  the  present  time, 
and  in  almost  every  country  in  the  world,  to  whose  separate  and 
individual  testimony  we  arc  unable  to  assign  a  positive  value.  I 
have  said  nothing  even  of  that  respectable  array  of  known  and  in 
various  ways  distinguished  witnesses  whom  we  have  still  among 
us,  or  who  have  recently  deceased.  I  have  said  nothing  of  the 
admission  of  experts  in  the  art  of  conjuring, —  that  art  to  which 
such  illimitable  powers  are  ascribed  by  the  credulity  of  the  incredu¬ 
lous, —  of  the  celebrated  conjurer  Iloudiu,  of  the  celebrated  con¬ 
jurer  Bellachini,  of  the  celebrated  conjurer  John  Nevil  Maskelyne, 
the  latter  of  whom  I  publicly  challenged  in  the  Examiner  news¬ 
paper  to  explain  away,  if  he  could,  certain  printed  and  published 
admissions  of  his  own  to  the  existence  of  phenomena  of  this  class 


210 


APPENDIX  A. 


not  produced  by  trickery.*  I  am  not  attempting  the  prodigious 
task  of  estimating  in  figures  tlio  cumulative  evidence  for  the  phe¬ 
nomena  called  spiritualistic,  a  Pelion  piled  upon  an  Ossa  of  testi¬ 
mony,  and  which  would  crush  any  logical  resistance,  but  not  the 
illogical  power  of  that  against  which,  it  is  said,  the  very  gods  strive 
vainly.  I  charge  this  stupidity  with  gross  ignorance  of  the  princi¬ 
ples  upon  which  evidence  should  be  estimated ;  and  I  have  traced 
this  ignorance  to  four  fallacies :  First,  to  the  confusion  of  the  posi¬ 
tive  affirmative  induction  which  we  legitimately  draw  of  the  course 
of  nature  under  ordinary  conditions  of  observation,  with  the  nega¬ 
tive  induction  from  inexperience,  of  the  non-existence  of  other  con¬ 
ditions.  Secondly,  to  the  assumption  that  this  inexperience,  in 
fact,  exists,  as  the  ground  even  of  this  negative,  far  more  limited, 
and  far  less  valid  induction,  an  assumption  which  is  made  by  an 
arbitrary  rejection  of  historic  evidence.  Thirdly,  to  the  assump¬ 
tion  that  antecedent  improbability  thus  arising  can  co-exist  with 
testimony  of  a  certain  assignable  value.  Fourthly,  to  neglecting 
to  estimate  the  cumulative  force  of  testimony. 

That  these  fallacies  are,  nevertheless,  sanctioned  by  common  con¬ 
sent,  and  by  authority,  need  not  sin-prise  us.  It  is  a  popular  error 
that  priests  have  been  the  greatest  enemies  to  science.  It  has 
been  the  “common  sense  ”  of  each  generation,  supported  and  sanc¬ 
tioned  by  the  highest  scientific  authorities  of  the  day,  that  has 
always  been  found  opposed  to  the  reception  of  evidence  conflicting 
with  presumptions  which  have  their  origin  in  ignorance.  It  was 
not  a  churchman,  but  a  very  learned  professor,  notorious  for  his 
anti-religious  tendencies,  who  refused  to  look  through  Galileo’s 
telescope.  Was  it  religious  persecution  or  popular  and  scientific 
ridicule  that  Harvey,  Jenner,  Franklin,  Young,  Stephenson,  Arago, 
and  Gregory  encountered  for  their  respective  discoveries  and 
ideas?  It  is  significant  that  in  an  American  book,  called  the 
Warfare  of  Science,  that  was  republished  in  England  last  year 
under  the  avowed  patronage  of  Professor  Tyndall,  there  is  much 
that  is  well  and  eloquently  told  of  the  wrongs  of  science  at  the 
hands  of  religious  bigotry,  but  not  one  word  of  the  constant  and 
determined  obstruction  of  scientific  men. 

To  avoid  misapprehension  I  wish  to  add  one  remark.  In  speak¬ 
ing  of  the  abstract  value  of  testimony  I  have  not  for  a  moment 
meant  to  imply  that  testimony,  or  evidence  generally,  can  bo 

‘Notice  of  the  terms  of  the  above  reference  to  Mr.  Maskelyne  was  sent  to  the 
latter,  with  a  card  of  admission  to  hear  the  paper  read,  available  for  Maskelyne 
himself,  or  for  any  friend  by  whom  he  might  wish  to  be  represented,  and  who 
might  make  any  statement  by  permission  of  the  chairman.  For  Mr.  Maskelyno’a 
admissions  see  Appendix  C. 


APPENDIX  A. 


211 


appreciated  without  reference  to  the  nature  of  the  fact  attested.  It 
is  only  the  assumed  improbability  of  the  fact  which  I  have  regarded 
as  a  separate  factor.  But  in  accounts  of  the  extraordinary  there 
are  undoubtedly  elements  of  fallacy  which  only  a  very  inexperi¬ 
enced  judge  of  testimony  would  ignore.  For  instance,  we  may 
almost  appropriate  a  special  set  of  motives  to  such  narrations. 
The  mere  vanity  of  producing  an  impression  of  wonder,  or  of  mak¬ 
ing  out  an  unanswerable  case,  is  responsible  for  many  a  false  or 
liighly-colored  account.  There  is  the  temptation  to  support  a  hasty 
exaggeration  by  a  specific  falsehood,  or  by  suppression  of  truth. 
Then,  again,  the  fact  may  be  of  such  a  nature  that  the  whole  value 
of  the  testimony  depends  on  minuteness  and  accuracy  of  observa¬ 
tion.  Kegard  to  time  prevents  my  doing  more  than  advert  to 
these  considerations.  Only  to  each  case  as  it  arises  can  their 
proper  weight  be  assigned.  Unfortunately  there  is  assigned  to 
them  an  enormously  exaggerated  weight  in  general,  without  refer¬ 
ence  to  particular  cases  at  all,  and  this  because  it  is  assumed  to  be 
more  probable  that  the  evidence  is  thus  vitiated  than  that  the  facts 
attested  are  true.  No  doubt  the  presumption  that  evidence  is  not 
good  is  a  far  more  rational  presumption  than  that  evidence,  how¬ 
ever  good,  is  false.  And,  moreover,  it  is  one  which  can  be 
brought  to  the  test  of  examination,  whereas  the  latter  cannot.  We 
can  show  whether  evidence  does  or  does  not  come  up  to  a  certain 
standard,  and  if  it  does,  the  presumption  is  falsified ;  but  to  the 
man  who  says,  “I  won’t  listen,  and  I  don’t  care  how  good  your 
evidence  may  be,”  wc  can  have  nothing  further  to  say. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  lay  down  the  following  proposition  broadly. 
A  negative  probability,  by  which  I  mean  an  inference  of  non-exist¬ 
ence  from  the  absence  of  evidence,  cannot  in  the  least  affect  the 
value  of  positive  evidence  of  existence.  It  is  only  provisional. 
It  vanishes  at  the  touch  of  sufficient  evidence;  and  sufficient  evi¬ 
dence  I  define,  for  this  purpose,  to  be  evidence  which  would 
establish  a  fact — having  strict  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  fact  — 
as  to  which  there  was  no  antecedent  presumption  or  probability  for 
or  against.  Would  I  therefore  accept  the  statement  of  a  casual 
stranger  as  to  some  unheard-of  marvel  with  the  same  facility  that  I 
would  accept  his  statement  as  to  its  having  rained  somewhere 
yesterday, —  a  fact  which  may  be  said  to  answer  the  description  of 
having  no  antecedent  presumption  either  way?  Certainly  not, 
for  I  have  said  that  the  nature  of  the  fact  is  to  be  regarded,  not 
as  probable  or  improbable,  but  as  communicating  elements  of 
fallacy  to  testimony.  Thus  understood,  I  say  that  the  evidence  is 
our  whole  concern,  and  that  if  it  stood  every  test  and  every  criti- 


APPENDIX  A. 


212 

cism  which  experience  could  suggest,  I  would  accept  on  the 
strength  of  it  any  marvel  in  the  Arabian  Nights,  or  Gulliver's 
Travels.  And  I  submit  that  the  mau  who  would  not  is  the  creat¬ 
ure  of  prejudice  and  the  victim  of  prepossessions. 


APPENDIX  B. 


EVIDENCE  OF  SAMUEL  BELLACHINI,  COURT  CONJURER 
AT  BERLIN. 


The  following  is  a  translated  copy  of  an  official  document :  — 

No.  482  Notary’s  Register  for  1877,  drawn  at  Berlin,  the  6th 
day  of  December,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-seven, 
in  presence  of  the  undersigned  notary,  residing  at  Tauben-strasse, 
No.  42,  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Royal  Supreme  Court  of  judica¬ 
ture,  Gustav  Ilaagen,  Counsellor,  and  in  presence  of  the  under¬ 
signed  witnesses,  personally  known  to  the  notaiy,  of  full  age,  who 
can  read  and  write,  and  are  residents  here. 

Carl  TrUmper,  Letter  Carrier, 

Gustav  Griintz,  Letter  Carrier, 

who  as  well  as  the  notary,  as  notaiy  and  witnesses  both  hereby 
declare  they  have  no  connection  with  the  case,  which  according  to 
pages  five  to  nine  of  the  Act  of  July  the  eleventh,  eighteen  hun¬ 
dred  and  forty-five,  would  exclude  them  from  participating  in  this 
document, 

Did  appear  this  day  personally  before  the  undersigned  notary, 
known  to  him  and  found  duly  qualified  to  act. 

The  prestidigitator  and  Court  Conjurer  to  his  Majesty  the 
King  and  Emperor  William,  I,  Mr.  Samuel  Bellachini,  residing 
at  Grossbaaron-strassc,  No.  14,  which  gentleman  did  prefer  the 
following  statement,  under  date  Berlin,  the  6th  of  December,  in 
this  year,  and  that  he  certified, 

That  the  signature  of  my  name,  hereby  appended,  was  written 
by  me  in  due  form  I  hereby  acknowledge.  Read,  approved,  and 
executed.  (Signed)  Samuel  Bellachini 

(zi3) 


214 


APPENDIX  IS. 


Wo,  the  notary  and  witnesses,  attest  that  the  above  transaction 
took  place  as  herein  stated ;  that  it  was  in  the  presence  of  us, 
notary  and  witnesses,  read  aloud  to  the  person  concerned,  approved 
by  him,  and  sigued  by  his  own  hand. 

(Signed)  Gustav  Gruntz, 

Carl  Thumper, 

Gustav  Haagen,  Notary. 

Executed  at  Berlin  on  the  sixth  of  December,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  seveuty-seven,  and  entered  in  the  Notary’s 
Register  under  the  number  four  hundred  and  eighty-two,  for  the 
year  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-seven.  Signed  and  officially 
stamped.  Gustav  Haagen,  Counsellor  and  Notary. 

I  hereby  declare  it  to  be  a  rash  action  to  give  decisive  judgment 
upon  the  objective  medial  performance  of  the  American  medium, 
Mr.  Henry  Slade,  after  only  one  sitting,  and  the  observations  so 
made. 

After  I  had,  at  the  wish  of  several  highly-esteemed  gentlemen 
of  rank  and  position,  and  also  for  my  own  interest,  tested  the  phys¬ 
ical  mediumship  of  Mr.  Slade  in  a  series  of"  sittings  by  full  day¬ 
light,  as  well  as  in  the  evening,  in  his  bedroom,  I  must,  for  the 
sake  of  truth,  hereby  certify  that  the  phenomenal  occurrences  with 
Mr.  Slade  have  been  thoroughly  examined  by  me  with  the  minutest 
observation  and  investigation  of  his  surroundings,  including  the 
table,  and  that  I  have  not  in  the  smallest  degree  found  anything  to 
be  produced  by  means  of  prestidigitative  manifestations,  or  by 
mechanical  apparatus;  and  that  any  explanation  of  the  experi¬ 
ments  which  took  place  under  the  circumstances  and  conditions 
then  obtaining  by  any  reference  to  prestidigitation,  to  be  absolutely 
impossible. 

It  must  rest  with  such  men  of  science  as  Crookes  and  Wallace, 
in  London,  Perty,  in  Berne,  Butlerof,  in  St.  Petersburg,  to  search 
for  the  explanation  of  this  phenomenal  power,  and  to  prove  its 
reality.  I  declare,  moreover,  the  published  opinions  of  laymen, 
as  to  the  “IIow’‘  of  this  subject  to  be  premature,  and  according 
to  my  view  and  experience,  false  and  one-sided.  This,  my  declara¬ 
tion,  is  signed  and  executed  before  a  notary  and  witnesses. 

(Signed)  Samuel  Bellacuini. 


Berlin,  Gth  December,  1877. 


APPENDIX  C. 


ADMISSIONS  BY  JOHN  NEVIL  MASKELYNE  AND  OTHER 
PROFESSIONAL  CONJURERS. 

Mr.  John  Nevil  Maskelyne,  the  well-known  conjurer  of  the 
Egyptian  Hall,  Piccadilly,  who,  without  having  been  present  at  a 
single  sitting  with  Slade,  was  irregularly  admitted  as  a  witness 
against  him  at  Bow  Street,  had  long  been  adding  to  the  attraction 
of  his  performances  by  holding  them  out  to  be  exposures  of  spiritu¬ 
alistic  phenomena.  In  June  and  July,  1873,  a  correspondence 
took  place  between  this  gentleman  and  a  Spiritualist,  in  which  the 
latter  offered  Mr.  Maskelyne  £1000  if  he  could  reproduce  cer¬ 
tain  mediumistic  phenomena  with  the  conditions  under  which  they 
had  been  observed  by  three  persons,  one  only  to  be  a  Spiritualist. 
The  negotiation  came  to  nothing,  but  the  correspondence  was 
printed,  and  the  following  extracts  are  quoted  with  a  view  to  show 
that  Mr.  Maskelyne  has  himself  made  distinct  admissions  of  the 
reality  of  some  of  such  phenomena,  not  due  to  trickery,  that  he 
even  avows  them  as  part  of  his  own  public  exhibitions,  and  that 
he  merely  protests  that  spirits  of  the  dead  have  nothing  to  do  with 
them.  That  this  is  not  the  true  issue  every  one  but  Mr.  Maskel¬ 
yne  will  admit.  This  issue  is  simply  trickery  by  the  medium ,  or 
not.  If  not,  the  phenomena  must  be  entitled  to  admission  and 
investigation,  and  must  give  rise  to  scientific  questions  of  the 
utmost  moment. 

The  extracts  are  taken  from  the  printed  correspondence  entitled 
as  follows:  — 

“  £1000  Reward. 

Maskelyne  and  Cooke. 

An  Expose  &c., 

By  Iota. 

(Proofs  corrected  by  Mr.  Maskelyne). 

London,  J.  Bukns,  15  Southampton  Row,  W.  C.” 


216 


APPENDIX  C. 


Tu  order  to  make  them  intelligible  it  should  be  premised  that 
“  the  manifestations  stated  in  the  report  of  the  Dialectical  Society  ” 
were  distinctly  mediumistic,  the  committee  of  that  society  which 
made  the  report  having  been  appointed  for  the  express  purpose  of 
investigating  and  reporting  upon  spiritualistic  phenomena.  The 
report  with  the  evidence  at  length  is  published. 

On  the  1st  July,  1873,  Mr.  Maskelyne,  in  the  course  of  a  let¬ 
ter  to  his  correspondent,  writes  as  follows :  — 

“  In  accepting  this  challenge,  I  wish  you  distinctly  to 

understand  that  I  do  not  presume  to  prove  that  such  manifesta¬ 
tions  as  those  stated  in  the  report  of  the  Dialectical  Society  are 
produced  by  trickery ;  I  have  never  denied  that  such  manifesta¬ 
tions  are  genuine,  but  I  contend  that  in  them  there  is  not  one  iota 
of  evidence  which  proves  that  departed  spirits  have  no  better  occu¬ 
pation  than  lifting  furniture  about . ” 

Agreed,  Mr.  Maskelyne ;  those  Spiritualists,  if  any,  who  are  not 
entirely  of  your  opinion  on  this  point,  seem  to  deserve  your  impu¬ 
tation  of  credulity  in  the  highest  degree.  Accordingly,  the  other 
party  to  the  correspondence  replies  on  the  following  day  — 

“  ....  I  do  not  care  to  dispute  your  contention  about  the 
occupation  of  departed  spirits.  IV hat  I  understand  by  medium- 
power  is  something  which  is  neither  mechanics,  nor  conjuring,  nor 
chemistry,  nor  electricity,  nor  magnetism,  nor  even  mesmerism,  nor 
a  combination  of  all  or  any  of  these,  nor  anything  to  be  explained 
by  any  of  the  commonly  known  ‘  laws  of  nature,’  and  without  which 
1  defy  you  to  equal,  or  even  to  approach,  the  ‘so-called  spiritual 
manifestations.’  ” 

Then  on  the  6th  Mr.  Maskelyne  again  writes — “I  have  never 
stated  that  you  cannot  produce  some  phenomena  in  a  genuine  man¬ 
ner  ;  I  have  done  this  or  assisted  in  doing  it  myself,  and  tell  my 
audience  so  at  every  performance;  yet  I  am  not  a  medium,  but  I 
know  that,  if  I  were  scoundrel  enough,  I  could  become  one,  and 
should  have  no  difficulty  in  humbugging  Spiritualists  to  an  alarm¬ 
ing  extent.”  Here,  again,  Mr.  Maskelyne  appears  to  be  speaking 
merely  of  an  explanation  which  he  holds  to  be  false,  and  which  he 
believes  that  professed  mediums  must  know  to  be  false.  But  in 
urging  these  phenomena  upon  public  attention  we  have  nothing  to 
do  with  spiritualistic  explanations,  true  or  false ;  it  is  the  fact 
ouly  that  is  in  question.  What  Mr.  Maskelyne  means  by  saying 
that  he  tells  his  audience  at  every  performance  that  he  produces  or 
assists  in  producing  phenomena  “in  a  genuine  manner”  (by  which 
as  will  be  seen,  he  excludes  the  notion  of  trickery)  is  very  doubt¬ 
ful.  The  writer  has  attended  the  performances  at  the  Egyptian 


APPENDIX  C. 


217 


Hall  frequently,  but,  with  the  exception  of  some  words  at  the  con¬ 
clusion  of  the  cabinet  seance  which  could  convey  no  meaning  to  an 
inexperienced  audience,  Mr.  Maskelyne  certainly  said  nothing  to 
which  his  above  statement  could  apply.  These  occasions,  how¬ 
ever,  were  of  much  later  date  than  the  correspondence. 

His  correspondent  replies  on  July  8th  — 

“  You  say  you  tell  your  audience  at  every  performance  that  you 
admit  that  we  have  some  genuine  phenomena.  I  confess  that  I 
have  never  been  able  to  understand  distinctly  your  remarks  on 
this  head.  You  seem  to  me  to  say  that  most  of  the  so-called  phe¬ 
nomena  are  humbug,  but  some  few  genuine;  that  the  genuine 
ones  are  produced  by  trickery,  exactly  as  your  own  stage  perform¬ 
ance  is.  Nor  can  I  gather  any  more  from  the  admissions  in  your 
letters.” 

In  a  postscript  to  his  next  letter,  Mr.  Maskelyne  says,  in  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  above,  “  How  genuine  phenomena  can  be  produced  by 
trickery  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know.  If  you  understand  me  thus,  my 
remarks  must  be  a  contradiction,  and  I  must  look  to  them.” 


Robert  Houdin,  the  great  French  conjurer,  investigated  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  clairvoyance  with  the  sensitive,  Alexis  Didier.  In  the 
result  he  unreservedly  admitted  that  what  ho  had  observed  was 
wholly  beyond  the  resources  of  his  art  to  explain.  See  “  Psy- 
ehische  Studien”  for  January,  1878,  p.  43. 


“Licht,  mehr  Licht,”  a  German  paper  published  in  Paris,  in  its 
number  of  10th  May,  1880,  contains  a  letter  from  the  well-known 
professional  conjurer,  Jacobs,  to  the  Psychological  Society  in 
Paris,  avowing  himself  a  Spiritualist,  and  offering  suggestions  for 
the  discrimination  of  genuine  from  spurious  manifestations. 


APPENDIX  D. 


Plate  X. 


(218) 


PRINTED  FROM  THE  BAILEY  COMBINATION-TYPE. 

W.  J,  Schofield,  105  Summer  Street,  Boston. 


